Camp Magic-free?
by Groudon199
Summary: [sequel to "Friendship Games are Magic"] Our school is going on a week-long trip to Camp Everfree. I've never gone camping before, so I'm a little nervous. But also excited. Is there a word for both? Anyway, it's nice to get away from magic for a while. [Mild language, MLPEG:LoE spoilers]
1. Recap

**A/N: Although this is a sequel to my previous story, reading it isn't required. The events of it and my first one, as well as a bit of my characters' backstories, are recapped in this chapter. Because of this, the recap contains spoilers for the first 3 movies.**

 **The main character is Cloudflare. He has light orange skin (Hexidecimal value #FFC271) and short green-blue hair (Hex value #22A5A0), and he wears a plain black shirt, blue pants (or trousers, for people who live in certain countries), and black shoes. At Camp Everfree, his white short-sleeved shirt is light red around the collar, shoulders, and sleeves, and his shorts are black. One of his friends is Olivia. Her skin color is light grey (Hex value #C9C9C9), and her hairstyle is the same as Mystery Mint's (timestamp 0:10:25 in Friendship Games, far left), but it stops at her shoulders and is dark brown (Hex value #845237). She wears a dark grey shirt, black pants that covers her below-the-knee prosthetic right leg, and dark grey shoes. At Camp Everfree, her shirt is the same as Octavia's and Lyra's (white with short pink sleeves), her shorts are dark blue, and her socks are black and go slightly past her knees to cover her prosthesis.**

 **This story is told primarily through Cloudflare's point-of-view, and it will switch to Olivia at certain points.**

* * *

 *****Three days after the Friendship Games*****

I knock on the door to Olivia's house.

The door opens. "Hey there," Olivia says.

"How's it goin'?" I walk inside.

She closes the door. "Could be better."

"Why? What did the therapist say?" We walk into the living room.

"Well, the good news is it's just a rash. It should clear up in a few days. The bad news is I have to be on these crutches until I go back for a follow-up on Saturday."

We sit on the couch. "At least you don't need your wheelchair."

She groans. "Don't remind me. On the plus side, now Cinch _has_ to let me use the elevators."

"When do you think you'll be able to come back to CHS?"

"Dunno. Hopefully by the end of the week. Principal Celestia said the process shouldn't take long because I left earlier this school year, plus Cinch wants me gone ASAP."

"I can see why. That was one hell of a blow-up."

"That was my breaking point. The fact that she'd put the well-being of a Crystal Prep student at risk just to gain an advantage..."

"At least that's over now. Speaking of Crystal Prep, did anything special happen while you were there?"

"Not really. Just something weird."

"Weird... You mean the foot guy?"

"Yup."

"I know you said you don't want to go into it, but I'd kinda like to know what he did."

She sighs. "You _really_ want to know what he did with my foot?"

"Uh..." When she puts it _that_ way... "Never mind. Did the principal do anything about it?"

"She said he's not hurting anyone, so she's not getting involved."

"Sounds like it was because she didn't like you."

"Lemon Zest told me Cinch says the same thing to everybody who complains. Though considering she made me go up and down 240 steps every day and forced me to compete in the Friendship Games, I feel she wouldn't have done anything anyway."

"I still can't believe you actually counted them."

"Oh, I wasn't _that_ bored! Twilight told me."

"When did the two of you become friends?"

"That's the thing. Nobody at Crystal Prep wanted anything to with me because I was a former Wondercolt. The few I asked just said no, but Twilight said she didn't have time for relationships. It wasn't until after the Games that she said yes. Actually, we talked a bit on the bus ride to CHS's welcoming ceremony. We didn't say much. Just talked about how Cinch forced both of us to compete. She told Twilight that if she didn't compete, her application to the Everton Independent Study program would be denied. Cinch simply decided I'd be taking part and wouldn't give me any say in it, and when she was convincing Twilight to unleash the magic stored in that necklace thing, she and the other Shadowbolts blackmailed me, saying they'd reveal my missing leg to the entire school if I tried to stop Twilight."

So _that's_ what was going on over there... "I thought the students wanted nothing to do with you."

"I thought so, too, but the Shadowbolts said my reputation would be ruined. I didn't want to take any chances. After the Games, Lemon said they weren't gonna _actually_ blab. It was just leverage."

"Which one is Lemon Zest?"

"The green-haired girl. We talked a bit when Twilight went to investigate the statue, then again on the bus the next day. I hung out with her on Sunday, and we really connected. We like a lot of the same music, and we equally hate the modern 'crap rap' that's all the rage."

I'm glad the two of us aren't the only ones who hate it. "How can anyone like that trash?"

"I know, right? You'd have to be completely tone-deaf! Not even Cheese Sandwich could make it tolerable."

"The worst part is that garbage sells. That's probably the only reason anyone does it."

" _You_ should try making one. You could probably make a few bucks."

I chuckle. "No thanks. I have dignity and self-respect."

She also chuckles. "This generation of idiots... Okay, enough about the de-evolution of musical taste. How has your school year been?"

"Should I pick up where I left off on Saturday or start from the beginning?

"Start from the beginning. What all happened after I left?"

"Okay, but let me get through all of it before you ask me anything."

"Alright."

I take a deep breath. "The week after you left, Sunset stole Princess Twilight's crown, which is a powerful magic element, and Twilight followed her here. The statue in front of the school contains a portal between the two worlds, and it was only open for three days every 30 moons. She met the human world versions of her friends from Equestria, and with their help, she was able to convince the school to vote for her as Princess of the Fall Formal, despite Sunset's attempts at sabotage. The night of the Fall Formal, Sunset took the crown back and absorbed some of its magic, transforming her into, as she put it, a raging she-demon. She doesn't like to talk about it, I wasn't there to see it, and for some reason there aren't any pics or videos on social media, so I don't know exactly what went down. I saw some sort of rainbow spiral in the sky, and there was a big hole in the front of the school on Monday. From what little she _did_ tell me, Twilight and her friends drew magic from the crown and ponied up, defeating Sunset with that spiral. That's when she started to change her ways.

"That was the only time the students weren't insulting me. After you left, the teasing got as bad as it was for you. Those were the worst months I've ever had to suffer through. Principal Celestia said she'd look into getting everything to stop, but nothing was ever done. Even when I showed her a couple bruises I got from Gilda, she just brushed it off. I was close to moving away as well. Last month, the school was putting on a musical showcase. The day before the showcase, the Dazzlings showed up – the Dazzlings from Equestria. They sang a song about changing the showcase into a Battle of the Bands, which got everyone in the cafeteria arguing with each other except me. They noticed this, and Adagio wrote a note telling me to meet with them. When I did, I told them why I wasn't arguing as well. Then they said they could help get back at the school for the months of torment. When they mentioned Sunset, that's all I needed to join them. The asked if I could play an instrument, and I told them I played the drums. I figured my Rock Hero drum skills could transfer over to the real thing, and while it wasn't a 1-to-1 transition, it was close enough.

"That's when I learned about Equestria, and that the Dazzlings were sirens. Unlike the sirens from mythology, their songs would cause people to fight and argue with each other, and the sirens would feed off of that negativity using the pendants on their necklaces. I later found out that their whole plan was to spread their dark magic around the world. I was immune to their singing, probably because I hated the school so much. We advanced to the final round, as did the Rainbooms – the girls that pony up. Actually, Trixie and her band should've moved on after Sunset tackled Rainbow when she started to pony up, but the Dazzlings used their singing to have the Rainbooms advance instead. When the Rainbooms were setting up on-stage, Trixie's band pulled a lever and trapped them under the stage. After I ranted about how it made no sense for them to advance if they were gonna be taken out of contention anyway, the Dazzlings said they needed to 'break' the Rainbooms in order to get their magic. When we took the stage that night, the Rainbooms were arguing with each other, and the Dazzlings got ahold of their magic. Twilight's dragon-turned-dog Spike found Vinyl Scratch, the blue-haired girl who never takes off her headphones, and they freed the Rainbooms. During our song, the Dazzlings ponied – er, well, _sirened_ up. They got the pony ears and longer hair, but they had bat-like wings instead. The Rainbooms retaliated with their own song, and then the Dazzlings revealed their true forms. If I remember correctly, they kinda looked like dragons with horse hooves and mermaid tails.

"They had a short magic battle, and the Dazzlings used their singing to get the upper hand. They knocked the mic out of Twilight's hand with it and Sunset picked it up." Olivia looks confused. I do a short vocalization. "Imagine visible sound waves coming from that, and it's something as tall as this house making that sound. Anyway, Sunset picked up the mic, started singing, and ponied up. They used their magic to defeat the Dazzlings and destroy the pendants. That's when I realized what a fool I was. I sided with evil, even when I knew evil always loses. The Rainbooms came on-stage, and Sunset apologized for how she treated me and asked if we could be friends. I saw how she helped defeat the Dazzlings, so I decided to give her a chance. I gave a short speech to the crowd to try to lessen their hate toward me. I tracked down the Dazzlings before they got too far, and they said the only reason they let me join them is because they were able to feed on my negativity by holding onto my shoulders.

"Heh... It's actually pretty funny. If it weren't for them, my life wouldn't have gotten better. Since then, the students no longer make fun of me, for the most part, and I'm a lot more outgoing because of it. I haven't reconnected with my old friends, but I've been having an amazing time with my new ones. I've been practicing on Pinkie's drumset, and I've gotten pretty good. I even came up with the drumbeat for a song Sunset wrote. Speaking of, she spent a lot of time trying to figure out why they pony up when they play music, and I helped her out a couple times. She tried contacting Twilight for her help, but she never responded. A week before the Friendship Games, Rainbow asked me to come with her to spy on Crystal Prep, and that's when I saw you. I wasn't sure if it _was_ you because you never took phys-ed at CHS."

"Cinch said I had to do stretches for 30 minutes after school twice a week if I didn't want to do gym," she says.

"I see. As Cinch said, the CHS team was determined by a talent show. I juggled five things, and somehow that was good enough. Two days before the Games, Sci-Twi started to investigate the school's 'strange readings'."

"Sci-Twi?"

"Because we know two Twilights and I don't feel like calling the other _Princess_ Twilight all the time, I decided to nickname the Twilight from this world. She's into science, and everything that happened this school year sounds like a sci-fi show. I'll only use it when talking about both Twilights."

"'Sci-Twi'... Clever boy," she says with an accent.

I chuckle. "Thanks, Clara. As I was saying, she went right to the statue. When Sunset and I tried to confront her, she took off. The next day, when the Crystal Prep students came to the school, she found her way to the music room. I noticed she wasn't the pony Twilight right away thanks to the glasses, hairstyle, and uniform. Before I talked with you in the gym, Sunset and I stepped outside to see if Twilight wrote back. Sunset wondered if there was another way to contact her, and she put her hand on the portal spot. That's when Sci-Twi's pendant absorbed the portal and is why all those holes were showing up. After the second event, she apologized for causing the vine attack, but then her pendant drained Rainbow's magic. Sunset was furious that Sci-Twi was behind the magic pop-ups, and her tone reminded me of how she used to be. I thought she was going back to that way, and I felt used. I ran away crying, mad at myself for falling in love with someone who hasn't changed at all. I actually considered going straight home, but I decided against it when I knew I'd just go straight to bed. Before the chaos from the final round, Applejack talked some sense into me. I felt like such an ass for overreacting like that. Then Sci-Twi unleashed the magic and became Midnight Sparkle, I saved you, Sunset saved the world, and I asked her out on a date."

I didn't realize how much I've been through just in the past month.

"Well... Damn... Why do I always miss out on the good stuff... Okay, then. How did Sunset contact the princess?"

"She has a book that she would use to contact Princess Celestia when she was her student. What's written in one book shows up in the other. Twilight has Celestia's book now."

"Is that Celestia incompetent as well?"

"Seems that way. Every time something's threatened Equestria over the last few years, it's been Twilight and her friends who saved the day."

"Maybe if they had a queen, they wouldn't have to rely on a third princess and five ordinary citizens."

"Whatever works, I guess."

"So, you said you play the drums now. Did Rock Hero _really_ help _that_ much?"

"Well, it taught me the basics. It only took a few minutes to get used to the real thing and not play loudly, though I still can't use the hi-hat pedal effectively."

"You gonna learn the guitar next?" she says sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," I respond with equal sarcasm. "Nah, I'm gonna stick with the drums. Far less complicated."

"What were the Dazzlings like?"

"Adagio was the ringleader and the most manipulative. Aria was a little bitter and argued with Sonata quite a bit. Sonata was a ditz, and she sorta reminds me of Pinkie."

"Sounds just like the Dazzlings at Crystal Prep, except replace 'manipulative' with 'bossy'."

I'm not surprised. Twilight told me her friends in Equestria and their human counterparts have the same personalities.

She looks at my right hand. "You and Sunset are an item now, huh?"

"Yup. The ring was Rarity's idea. She wants to make sure everyone knows we're off the market."

"What do you see in her, and when did you fall for her?"

"She's smart, she's talented, she's pretty, and she's really fun to be around. She also has..." I'm not sure if I should tell her that. It's not a detail someone should tell their ex. Then again, she _did_ ask. "After the Battle, Pinkie invited me to join the sleepover she and the other girls were having that night. I was a little uneasy about being in a room with seven girls in their sleep clothes, but I was sure I could keep my hormones in check, which I did. When I saw Sunset, she was wearing purple PJs, and, well..." Actually, never mind. "Anyway, it was that night that I found myself attracted to her for the first time."

Olivia looks puzzled. I think she's trying to figure out what I was gonna say. She shakes her head. "Well, I'm glad to see things are back to normal. As far as Sunset no longer ruling over the school, anyway."

"Plus you have the most friends you've had since before the accident." For whatever reason, everyone stopped hanging out with her after that happened. Guess they were afraid of being made fun of. The same happened when my former friends found out I was dating her.

She smiles. "The students don't tease me, either. For the first time since my freshman year, I'm actually excited to be a Wondercolt."

Both of us have been through a lot. Luckily, it seems to have all been worth it.

"If the Dazzlings hadn't come to you on that day, how different do you think things would've been?"

"Well, I'd still hate Sunset."

"Aside from the obvious."

"I wouldn't have gone to the final round of the Battle, and I wouldn't have seen that she changed. I'd still feel miserable, the students would still be teasing me, and I definitely would've skipped school the day of the Friendship Games, assuming I hadn't moved away already. I saved you when Twilight went mad with power, and..." That's... a scary thought.

She looks worried. "If you weren't there..."

Surely I wasn't the _only_ one who would have pulled her up. "No way! You'd be fine. If not me, then someone else would've saved you. Like Lemon Zest."

"I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but she and Indigo were helping Rarity and a couple CPA students. Nobody was anywhere near me besides you."

"Maybe I would've moved to CPA. Then you wouldn't have been in that position in the first place."

"Well... I mean, I probably wouldn't have been in danger like that, but I still would've been forced to participate in the Games. You, too. Maybe... Maybe we would've gone out again."

At least with everybody ignoring us, we wouldn't have to keep it private.

"What Lemon Zest said would've actually happened," she says in a quieter tone.

"What Lemon Zest said?"

"Oh, i-it's nothing," she stammers. "Just girl talk. You know how it is." The nervousness in her voice probably means I wasn't supposed to hear that. "Crap, why now... Excuse me a sec." She stands up and hops toward the stairs.

"What about your crutches?"

"Don't need them." She hops upstairs.

What was _that_ about?


	2. Day 1, part 1

Our class is sitting on the bus to Camp Everfree. I'm sitting next to one of the windows, and Sunset is beside me in the aisle seat. Twilight and Spike are in the seats in front of us, Rainbow and Pinkie are in front of them, and Olivia and Rarity are in front of _them_ , while Fluttershy and Applejack are in the seats behind us.

Other than being banned from attending Pinkie's slumber parties by her father after he found out she had a boy over – and her sister Limestone _insisting_ I was only there to "get with" the girls – nothing special has happened over the past month. Obviously, the universe didn't implode from both Twilights meeting each other. The encounter was what you'd expect: The girls explained to Sci-Twi and Olivia why there's another Twilight, they told Twilight how the Friendship Games went down, and Olivia had a lot of questions for Twilight.

Sunset and I have gone on a few dates, but we're still at the hand-holding step. I'm not sure when we'll reach the kissing phase, but I hope it's soon. At the same time, I don't want to seem too eager. I'll wait until either the right moment or she makes the first move. Sitting next to her on the bus isn't very romantic.

Olivia's been having a lot of fun hanging out with us. I haven't seen her so jubilent since we were dating.

"No... _Stooooooop!_ " Twilight?!

"Twilight! Wake up!"

"We _can't_ stop, silly," Pinkie says. "We're not there yet."

"You okay?" I ask.

"Heh... I'm fine," she says with a not-too-convincing smile.

"You sure? It seemed like you were –"

"We are gonna have so much fun!" Pinkie interrupts. "We're gonna roast marshmallows and eat marshmallows and sleep on marshmallow pillows!" Uh... pillows?

"Yeah," Rainbow says, " _probably_ not gonna do that."

"Maybe _you're_ not!" She takes out a bag of marshmallows, then rests her cheek on it. I guess you can make a pillow out of anything.

"Attention, students," Principal Celestia says. "We're almost there, but before we arrive, I just wanted to say how proud we are of you for raising enough money to go on this class field trip." Because if the school doesn't have the budget to fix the lights, it damn sure can't afford a class trip. Why not fundraise to fix the statue out front?

"When we were your age," Vice Principal Luna says, "we made some of our favorite memories in these woods, and we're sure _you_ will, too."

I sigh. Vinyl Scratch is still wearing her headphones. At least take them off while the principals are talking, geez...

"Now," Celestia says, "who's excited for Camp Everfree?!"

Everyone – except Vinyl, of course – cheers. I'll have to ask Twilight about that outburst later. I'm pretty sure she was having a nightmare.

I look out the window as the bus stops at an intersection. There's someone walking along the side of the road.

Sonata? I knock on the window to get her attention. She looks at me, and I wave. She smiles and excitedly waves back as the bus starts moving again.

"Who are you waving to?" Sunset asks.

"An old friend."

* * *

Once the bus pulls into the camp, we get off.

"Did you ever go camping in Equestria?" I ask Sunset.

"Nope," she says. "Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns had a couple camping trips as rewards for doing well throughout the year, but I was too focused on studying to care."

"I'll say!" Pinkie says, obviously having a different conversation. "We fought three evil sirens who tried to hypnotize everybody with their singing, one _ridiculously_ competitive rival school, and two demon friends!" That's an odd way of wording it, considering Sci-Twi didn't even _know_ Sunset back at the Fall Formal. "Uh, heh heh... No offense."

Sunset puts her arm around Twilight. "None taken," she says to Pinkie. "You'll get used to it," she says to Twilight.

"Yup," AJ says. "CHS has become a regular magic magnet. Gonna be nice getting away to a place where you don't have to worry about that kinda stuff."

"About time we have _one_ normal school-sanctioned event," I say.

"You're already bored of magical adventures?" Twilight asks.

"It's not that. It's just –"

"Here you go, Twilight." What is this, Interrupt Cloudflare Day? Flash hands Twilight her backpack.

"Thanks," she says. "It's Flash, right?"

"Yup! That's me! And you're you, and we don't know each other very well..." He mutters something.

"Right. I guess I'll see you around."

Flash sulks off, and Twilight shrugs her shoulders.

"You know how there's that girl who looks just like you when she's here but lives in another dimension and she's a pony princess?" Sunset says.

"Uh-huh?"

"Flash kinda had a thing for her."

Had? "What do you mean he _had_ a thing for her?" I ask. "I thought he still –"

Loud feedback over the PA speakers interrupts me. "Oh, come on!" Is this gonna be a recurring thing all week?!

"Hey, everyone!" the voice on the PA system says. Oh boy, she's one of _those_ camp counselors... "If you could start heading to the courtyard, that would be _rad!_ It's time to start the best week of camp ever!" Rad? Who even says that anymore?

I look at the... mountain of bags... Rarity, I know you want to be prepared for anything, but the idea behind camping is to pack _lightly_.

* * *

A couple minutes later, we're in the courtyard. Pinkie is chasing after Spike. I gave up trying to figure her out ages ago. Also, doesn't this place have a 'No pets' policy? Or does Spike get an exception because he talks?

"Hi, everyone," the lady from before says as she walks onto the gazebo. "Welcome to Camp Everfree! I'm Gloriosa Daisy, your camp director! Think of me as your friendly camp and nature guide." _Too_ friendly, if you ask me. She walks over to the guy standing next to her. "And this is my brother, Timber Spruce."

"Think of me as that awesome guy..." He throws the mic in the air and catches it with his other hand. "...who should always be invited to fun things." Or that guy who tries too hard to be cool.

"We aim to please, so before we hand out our tent assignments, we'd like to hear from all of you! You're free to do whatever you like here."

"Uh, except hike near the rock quarry. _That's_ off-limits." Guess we know who the serious sibling is.

"Yes, but otherwise, your options are wide open. So what activities will make this the very best week of your lives ever?!" This sorta reminds me of the sirens' fake sincerity. Except they weren't _this_ over-the-top.

"Rock climbing!" Rainbow says.

"Done!"

"Archery!"

"Of course!"

"Tetherball!" Okay, Rainbow, sheesh!

"Naturally!"

As Rainbow's hand goes up again, Sunset grabs it and pulls it down. "Rainbow, I know you're excited, but maybe give somebody else a chance to make a suggestion."

'Arts and crafts!" Bulk Biceps says. "My mom needs new pot holders." That guy is full of surprises.

"I'll supply balloons!"

"Cookie decorating!" Why just decorating, Pinkie?

"Ooh, I _do_ make a mean sugar cookie!" That... was a pose.

"Early morning nature walks?" Gonna have to speak up, Fluttershy. The mic barely picked you up.

"With walking sticks for everyone!"

"Oh, me! Uh..." I think Rarity is even more excited than Rainbow was. "A fashion show!" Of course... "Where I design the most _fabulous_ camp looks, inspired by today's hottest trends, aaaaaand have them modeled by my classmates in a gorgeous outdoor setting!" Olivia in a fancy outfit... That'll be a sight I never thought I'd see.

"A camp tradition!" Really? This doesn't seem like the place for such a thing.

Might as well throw my idea into the hat. "A magic show! To be honest, I've always wanted to see Trixie's act!"

"Outta sight!" I'm not sure if that was a magic joke or another phrase from her book of outdated lingo.

"Guess you _do_ have good taste after all," Trixie says. "Very well. Prepare yourselves for the Great and Powerful Trixie's Camp Everfree Illusion Spectacular!" Basic, but it gets the point across. "It's a working title."

Vinyl's standing close to her. Take off your damn headphones!

"A music competition!" Olivia says. Wait, what?!

"We've got some musical instruments in the storage shed for you to get your shred on!"

"Why did you suggest that?" I say quietly. "We're supposed to _avoid_ magical adventures this time."

"You suggested a magic show, so I thought you changed your mind."

"Trixie doesn't have Equestrian magic. She does illusions. That's different!"

"Oh, right..." She sighs. "I'm sorry. It's all this Equestrian magic stuff. I automatically associate that with the word 'magic' now."

"...just ask." Missed what Gloriosa said. Oh well.

"What about the camp gift?" Principal Celestia asks. "That was my favorite Camp Everfree tradition."

"The camp gift! Of course!" Hm...

Timber says something to her quietly, then she covers the mic and responds. I can't hear them, but from their facial expressions, it's some sort of disagreement.

"Anyone else picking up on a little tension between Gloriosa and her brother?" Sunset asks.

"They're siblings," I say. "Of course there's a little tension from time to time."

"Every year," Gloriosa says, "campers work together to create something useful. A gift for future campers. Working toward this common goal is key to forming the strong bonds that will last well beyond your time here at camp." She quietly says something to her brother. "This gazebo was a gift from last year's group. Ooh ooh ooh! And the totem pole and the sundial were also made by campers!" I hope it's just me being paranoid. I should voice my concerns anyway.

"The sundial was _our_ year's gift," Celestia says.

Vice Principal Luna clears her throat. "Even though 'some people' thought it was a little impractical since a sundial can't be used at night." Well, it's not a _moon_ dial. If such a thing even exists.

"And you all seem like a-a really amazing group," Gloriosa says, trying to calm the principals down. "So I'm certain you'll come up with something inspiring to leave behind."

Everyone cheers.

"Speaking of leaving things behind," Timber says, "now's the time that we give out tent assignments, so you can leave your heavy bags behind." I wonder if he's talking about Rarity.

The two step off of the gazebo. "Girls will be getting their assignments from Timber. Guys, you're with me!"

I walk over to her. I reach into the bag and pull out a card. There's an image of a black stone on it: Onyx. "Okay, then." I wonder if we're getting team points for doing well in these activities. 20 points to Onyx tent! I return to my friends. They all have their cards. Pinkie's already wandered off. "So what tents did you girls get?"

"Rarity and I are in Emerald," Olivia says.

"AJ and I got Aquamarine," Rainbow says.

"I got Amethyst," Fluttershy says. Vinyl walks up, and she's also holding an Amethyst card. They give each other a thumbs-up.

Okay, so she doesn't take them off, but I guess she turns the music down.

"Sapphire," Sunset says.

"Me, too!" Twilight says. "I mean, I'm assuming I am. Technically, sapphires aren't just blue. They can be pink, purple, yellow..."

"And there she goes on one of her scientific tangents," I say.

"What about you?" Sunset asks me.

"Onyx."

"Hey, Cloudflare?" I look at Olivia. "Can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

"Back in a sec," I tell Sunset. Olivia and I walk away from the others.

"So... We're in different tents..." She sounds disappointed.

"Yeah. We picked from different bags. Is that a problem?"

"Well... It's just... Some of the people here were teasing me before I left CHS. I know they've been nicer since I came back, but..."

"You're afraid of them going back to their old ways?"

"They've been nice in school, but out here, it feels like it'd be a lot easier to mess with me..."

"Don't worry about it. Our friends won't let anyone get away with teasing you. If you're afraid of somebody sneaking into your tent, Rarity will make sure it's the last thing they do."

"You sure?"

"Positive. She might look all prim and proper, but you _don't_ want to get on her bad side."

She smiles. "Okay. If you say so."

We rejoin the group.

"What?" Twilight says to them. Rainbow is snickering.

"Nothin'," AJ says.

"Ooh! That was _adorable!_ " Rarity says.

Did I miss something?

Glorioisa blows her whistle. "Okay, everyone. Go get settled in. We'll be meeting at the docks in 15 minutes to go over some camp safety rules! Let me know if you need anything!"

A door opens behind us. A limo has pulled up, and a man dressed in a suit and tie steps out. "I need somethin'."

Gloriosa walks up to him. "Filthy Rich! So nice to see you." They walk over to the limo and start talking quietly. This isn't what I meant when I had my suspicions, but I guess I was right anyway. Filthy Rich gets in his limo, closes the door, and the limo drives away. She looks at us. "Filthy Rich is a, um, alumni of the camp. He likes to check on his old stomping grounds every now and again." No one's buying that. "But enough about him. Find your tents and put away your things. The best week of camp _ever_ is about to begin!" Speaking of not buying it...

* * *

I walk into the tent area. I find the one with an onyx above the door... or whatever the entrance to a tent is called. It's a door, right?

I head inside. Flash is getting his things unpacked. "Hey, Flash."

"Oh, Cloudflare! You got Onyx tent, too?"

"Yup." I put my clothing bag on the bed. "The stone's kinda plain-looking, but I don't care for fancy stuff anyway."

"Sounds perfect for you."

I get my bottle of sunscreen out. "Personally, I was hoping for Ruby." I squirt some sunscreen on my hands and rub it on my legs.

"Which one's Sunset Shimmer in?"

"Sapphire."

"I see. And Olivia's in Emerald?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Well, you wanted Ruby, and Sunset's in Sapphire. Makes sense for Olivia to be in Emerald, wouldn't it?"

"I... guess?" What is he on about?

"Never mind. So you _really_ want to see Trixie's magic show? Isn't having six magical friends enough?"

"Trixie's an illusionist. I've always enjoyed those types of performances, and she's always talking about how 'great and powerful' she is. I want to see if she can back it up. Besides, it's a nice change from actual magic."

"You don't like that stuff?"

"It's not that. Too many school events have marred by magic outbreaks this year." I put sunscreen on my arms. "Well, maybe not 'marred'. The Battle of the Bands is what improved my school life. I just want something normal for once."

"I wouldn't mind another magical adventure. It makes things a little less boring."

"Sometimes you need a break in the excitement. Pony-ups when playing instruments are fine, but evil entities threatening the world? I've had enough of that for one year."

"Well, when you put it like that..."

"I mean, it's _certainly_ better than what I went through back in September. Speaking of, I never asked about what made you want to go out with the old Sunset Shimmer." I put a bit of sunscreen on my face and neck. "Were you going through a 'bad girls are hot' phase?"

He chuckles. "Nah. She acted like she was genuinely interested in me, and it seemed like she had some redeeming qualities, so I gave it a shot. We had an okay relationship. She was being flirty – a little _too_ flirty, even when we first went out. One day, I overheard her talking to Snips and Snails about how she was using me to get more popular, and that's when I dumped her. The video she made about you also helped with that decision."

"Why would she need _you_ to become more popular? She was already the reigning Fall Formal princess."

"Every little bit helps, I guess."

I put the bottle of sunscreen back in my bag, then slide the bag underneath the bed and leave the tent.

I look toward the Sapphire tent. Sunset, Olivia, and Gloriosa are talking. I walk over to them.

"Because if there is _anything_ I can do to make this week the best week _ever_ , you just let me know!" Gloriosa is saying. "I've got this!"

"Thanks," Sunset says. "I'm good."

"You're up to something," I say to Gloriosa.

"Up to something? Whatever do you mean?" she says in the same innocent tone.

"You're acting too cheerful. It sounds very forced and insincere. I spent time with the Dazzlings, so I know a thing or two about fake attitudes. Then there's that shady deal between you and Filthy Rich." I lean toward her and glare at her. "I've got my eye on you."

"Well, I'm flattered, but you're not my type," she says with a smirk. Her phone rings. "Damn it, I thought I shut that off." She takes it out of her pocket. "Excuse me." She answers it as she walks away. "Hey hey!"

That ringtone... "That's an actual song?! I thought it was just a cheesy euphemism!"

"Yup," Olivia says. "Also, the song's filled with lines like that."

"I didn't think you listened to songs like that," I say.

"I don't. Lemon Zest wanted me to hear it. It's hella cheesy, but I kinda like it. At least it's better than Yeezy."

Heh. "You're not wrong."

"Seems I'm not the only one nervous around people that chipper," Sunset says.

Pinkie surprises Sunset with a hug from behind. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Well, not _all_ people."

Twilight walks out of the tent. She looks uneasy. "Are you okay?"

"She's just a little anxious," Olivia says. "This is her first school outing in a long time."

"Uh... Right!" Twilight says.

"You sure? You weren't like this any other time today."

"Well, it's... It's taken a while to sink in," Sunset says. "Now, come on." She takes ahold of my hand. "Let's get to the docks."

Maybe it's because I'm on heightened alert from Gloriosa's act, but I get the feeling these three are hiding something. I'll worry about it later.


	3. Day 1, part 2 & Night 1

At the docks, there are five picnic tables, two logs acting as benches, a building with two canoes on the side and two sailboats in the water next to it, a long dock going out to the lake, a rock climbing wall, and five archery targets.

"Lake activities are available until sunset," Gloriosa is saying to us, "so if you want to canoe, sail, wind surf, or swim, just let me know." It's too bad I didn't bring any swimtrunks. I really like swimming.

I glance to my left. Vinyl Scratch is holding a fishing pole and, as usual, has her headphones on, bobbing her head to whatever she's listening to. I sigh. This is getting ridiculous. I walk up to her and tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. She looks at me, and I act like I'm taking off headphones of my own. She gets the message and removes hers after setting down her fishing pole. "Vinyl, why do you _always_ wear those things? Every time I look at you when somebody's talking, you're tuning them out. Gloriosa's explaining things, headphones on. Principals are giving a speech, headphones on. Even sitting in the crowd for the Battle of the Bands, you were listening to your own music!"

She looks at her headphones, then holds them in front of her. I guess she wants me to put them on? I take them and do just that. The song she was listening to has a nice beat and is within my dubstep tolerance level. After a minute, I take them off and give them back.

"I can see why you'd be distracted this time. That song's pretty catchy. It doesn't excuse all the other times, though."

She shrugs her shoulders, then puts her headphones back on and picks up her fishing pole. Well, _that_ answered all my questions and wasn't a complete waste of time.

"I suggest we close down the dock for the remainder of the camp," I hear Vice Principal Luna say. I look at the dock. Part of a board is broken. So much for boating.

"I'm sure it won't have to be for the _remainder_ of camp," Gloriosa says. "Just needs to be patched up a bit. I've got this!" Is that gonna be her catchphrase? Now that I think about it, wasn't there some guy on a TV show who said that every other episode?

"Or maybe _we_ do," AJ says. She walks up to the dock. "If ya ask me, the whole dock needs to go." She kicks over one of the wooden posts at the ramp, breaking the post completely in half. If _that's_ all it takes to break that post, how are the planks able to support any weight at all? "Buildin' a new one could be our camp gift! Sure, it would benefit _us_ , but a nice new dock would benefit future campers, too!"

Everyone seems on-board with the idea. I walk over to Sunset, who's standing next to Flash.

"I dunno," Timber says. "It's an awful lot of work. I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on other fun camp stuff 'cause you're so busy building a dock for _future campers_." He directs the last two words to his sister with a glare.

It looks like they're about to get into another argument, but Rainbow jumps in before they do. "I hear what you're saying, Timber, but we're Canterlot Wondercolts! We've got a reputation to uphold!" We have a reputation for replacing worn-down stuff with something new? "There's no way we're gonna leave this place without contributing the most awesome camp gift ever!" I dunno about _that_. You actually think a dock can be more awesome than a freakin' totem pole? "I'm with AJ. Building a new dock is definitely _it!_ What do you guys think?"

Everyone cheers. I'm okay with that.

"Looks like it's _settled_ , then," Gloriosa says.

"Looks... like it." Okay, I know they're brother and sister, but...

"That's some tension, alright," Sunset says.

"That's way more than brother/sister tension," I say. "Something's definitely going on, but I'm still not sure what."

* * *

"On three," I say. "One... two... three!" Olivia and I pick up the last plank and carefully move onto the dock. We set it down, then slide it into place.

"There we go. To be honest," Olivia says, "I'm glad we're working on this dock."

"How come?"

"Less stress on my prosthesis than doing any camp activities. I don't have to worry about another rash breaking out or damaging the limb again."

"Right, because making macaroni art is a _huge_ risk to a fake leg," I sarcastically respond.

"You know what I mean," she says in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I don't think you'd have to worry this time. You only use stairs a couple times a day, so your leg should be in pretty good shape."

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm just nervous. I _really_ don't want a repeat of the Friendship Games, especially when replacement prostheses are so expensive."

"You don't _have_ to do the strenuous activities. Like Gloriosa said, you can do whatever you like. If you want to help Pinkie make cookies instead of going on a hike with Fluttershy, go right ahead."

"Well..." She sighs. "You're right. Guess I let worrying get the better of me."

"It happens to everyone."

"Okay, everyone," Principal Celestia says. "You've made a lot of progress, but it's getting dark soon. We can pick this up tomorrow between our other activities."

"Everyone, get cleaned up," Gloriosa says, "and we'll gather by the fire pit at 8 to share smores and scary stories!" You had me at –

" _ **SMOOOOOOORES!**_ " Geez, Pinkie! Calm down! They're _just_ smores!

"Wow, Pinkie _really_ likes smores," Olivia says.

* * *

At the campfire, I'm sitting next to Sunset.

"And then, when she looked down," Rarity continues, "she realized she was wearing purple socks with a burgundy dress!" To emphasize the... 'terror'... she screams. Obviously, no one else finds it frightening. "Purple and burgundy, darlings. The same color family!" Another scream.

I'm no fashion expert, but wearing clothing from the same color family sounds like a good thing. Unless you're wearing all white. That'd be frightening anywhere except on an island.

"Uh... _that_ was a terrifying story," AJ sarcastically says.

"Yeah," Rainbow says. "I'm terrified she'll try to tell it again!"

"Ahem, anyway," Vice Principal Luna interrupts, "anyone else have a spooky story?"

Pinkie is holding so many smores, it's as if she made them for everybody, then forgot why she made them in the first place.

"I have one," Timber says. "But I'm warning you... You might as well hug a friend now. _That's_ how scary it is!"

"Can do," I say. I pull Sunset into a hug, which she returns.

"He said friend," Olivia says, "not girlfriend."

"I don't mind," Sunset says. We separate.

"Besides, it's got 'friend' in the name," I say.

"It's time I told you," Timber continues, "about the legend... of Gaea Everfree."

Gaea _Everfree?_ How convenient.

"Many years ago, my great-grandparents came to this forest. Seeing its beauty, they decided that it would be the perfect place for a camp. But once they started building, strange things started to happen to them. One pitch black night, when the wind was howling, a tree branch crashed through the roof of the cabin! They screamed and ran outside, only to see a giant creature rising from the earth! She had wild hair like the roots of a tree, her mouth had jagged rock teeth, and her eyes were pools of black tar! But her aura shimmered with diamonds. Anywhere she went, she left a trail of gem dust in her wake. Trembling, my great-grandparents asked who she was and what she wanted. In a deep and hollow voice, she told them that her name was Gaea Everfree, an ancient spirit who held domain over the forest, and that my great-grandparents were trespassing on her land. They begged her to let them stay and build their camp, to share this wonderful place with others. Gaea Everfree finally agreed, but warned them that they would not be able to keep it forever. Someday, she would return and reclaim the forest as her own. So if you see a trail of gem dust, you'll know that it is... Gaea Everfree!"

A shadowy figure appears behind Timber. That scared everyone else, but not me. Campfire stories don't frighten me easily, especially one as ridiculous as that.

"Hey guys!" The shadowy figure steps forward. It's Gloriosa. "Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you."

"Then why'd you come out of the bushes?" Sunset asks.

"I... took the scenic route, because the forest is beautiful at night!" The same forest you've seen at night for years? "But no one else should do it without a guide, 'kay? Alright, everybody! Time to head to your tents!" Everyone stands up.

I look at her outfit while she's talking with Snips and Snails. I didn't notice earlier, but she really likes flowers. I know her name is Gloriosa _Daisy_ , but that doesn't mean she _needs_ to wear them in her hair and on her shoes. She's wearing a necklace with five gems on it: Yellow, white, orange, blue, and pink. They look nice – although the assortment of colors is a bit odd – but they seem a little out-of-place on her. I can't quite put my finger on why...

"Of course! I got this!" You know, the more she says that, the more suspicious I grow.

"Fluttershy..." Spike's still in Fluttershy's fear hug.

"Sorry, Spike." She relaxes her grip. "I guess that story got to me."

" _That_ story?" I say. "It can't _possibly_ be real!"

"I dunno," Rainbow says. "Gaea Everfree could be some creature that got booted from Equestria and ended up in this world!" She looks legitimately freaked out. "That's what happened with the sirens."

"Sounded more like somethin' that Timber was making' up so he could scare us," AJ says. "At least I _hope_ it was. The last thing I want is to have camp ruined by some power-crazed magical creature." She looks at me. "And I know _you_ feel the same way."

"Oh, here here," Rarity says. "We had to deal with more than our fair share of those: At the Fall Formal, the Musical Showcase..." She's not gonna say... "the Friendship Ga–" She stops herself when she looks at Twilight. "Wel– I mean, you know, e-everything turned out alright, of course!" She nervously chuckles.

"I'm kind of tired," Twilight says. "I'm gonna turn in." She sulks off.

"Maybe lay off bringing up what happened at the Friendship Games," Sunset says. "I think she's still pretty sensitive about it."

I feel like there's more to it than just embarrassment over turning into Midnight, and the nightmare she had on the bus is probably connected. I know she won't tell me anything, but maybe Spike can help me out... if I can ever talk to him alone.

* * *

 **A/N: "Gaea" is the official spelling.**


	4. Day 2, part 1

*****Olivia's POV*****

I open my eyes. I sit up and stretch out my arms, then put on my glasses. Even this far away from home, morning rituals don't change much.

Ah, crap! I'm so used to doing this, I forgot I have a roommate! I look at Rarity. Luckily, she's still asleep. I breathe a sigh of relief. Being nearsighted is one of the few things I've never told anyone, including Cloudflare. I look ugly in my glasses, so I always wear contact lenses. The only time I wear glasses is for a few minutes after I wake up.

The past month has been the best month I've had since April of my freshman year. Not only do I have 9 friends who don't mind hanging out with a girl who only has one complete leg, all of the teasing I was subjected to at CHS has stopped. Well, aside from two freshmen, but I do my best to avoid them. I've also cut back on using foul language. I'm not sure if it's because I'm less stressed out or I got all of it out of my system when I blew up at Principal Cinch, but I'm kinda glad that's all behind me.

Although I enjoyed being Cloudflare's girlfriend at the start of the school year, there wasn't any chance of going back to that when we reunited at the Friendship Games. After being away from each other for so long, the spark wasn't there anymore for either of us. We're still very close friends, though not as close as Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops. Those two are so inseparable, it's as if they go a bit further than best friends.

When Cloudflare and Sunset act like a couple – hand holding, flirting, more hugging than any of my other friends do – it bothers me a tiny bit. Part of it is a little jealousy since I _was_ his girlfriend earlier this school year, but another part is because I still don't 100% trust Sunset. She hurt both of us before, and knowing her history with romantic relationships, I don't want to see Cloudflare's heart get broken.

I grab my bag and look through it. Should be near the bottom... Yup, there it is. I pull out a small mirror, then my contacts case. I remove my glasses and put my contacts in. After checking to make sure my stump is still in good shape, I put on my prosthesis, then my other sock. That takes care of everything I don't want people to see.

* * *

 *****Cloudflare's POV*****

I walk into the dock area. With the new dock pretty much finished, everybody is taking part in some of the actual activities. Olivia, Sunset, and Twilight are near the dock. As I walk toward them, something in the water catches my eye. A sailboat crashes into the dock, destroying a good portion of it.

"What happened?" Rainbow says as she runs over to us.

"I didn't mean to!" Twilight says. Wait, what?

"We didn't see anything," Sunset says, "so we don't know what happened." She, Rainbow, and I run over to the dock to check on the other students.

"Are you okay?" I ask them.

"Yeah, we're fine," the muffin girl says. "I don't know what happened. One minute, we were in the middle of the lake with no wind, and the next, the boat shot off like a rocket and crashed into the dock! It's as if the sailboat suddenly became a speedboat."

Timber motions for the students at the dock to follow him.

Pinkie gasps. "You don't think it was the spirit, do you?!"

I sigh. That's more absurd than the story itself! The timing would be too convenient. 'Have you heard the legend of Gaea Everfree?' 'OMG it's Gaea Everfree!'

"Spirit! Show yourself! The Great and Powerful Trixie commands it!"

"You gonna be doing that in your show?" I ask.

"Maybe. Maybe not. You'll just have to wait and see."

"What's _that?!"_ Rarity says. I look at her, and she's pointing to the lake. There's a spill of something purple near her, and it's sparkling.

Whoever's doing this is really going the extra mile for authenticity.

"Oh, man..." Rainbow says. "All our hard work... Ruined!"

"At least the fishies are eating well." Fluttershy putting the animals first, as always.

"Let's salvage what we can out of the water," Sunset says. "Maybe we can still fix this."

"We _have_ to try!" Rarity says. "Camp Everfree needs a runway!"

AJ looks annoyed by Rarity calling it a runway, and I get why. "Dock," she says.

"Dock, yes. That's what I meant." Rarity doesn't seem bothered by it, though.

Where'd Twilight go? I turn around, and I see her run into the forest.

"Sunset, can you check on Twilight? She ran into the forest."

She sighs. "Alright. I'll get Spike to help track her down."

"I doubt she's gotten _that_ far already."

"The forest has several branching paths. It'll be quicker with a dog's help." She runs to the tent area, and I start getting the broken boards out of the water.

* * *

After applying some more sunscreen, I leave my tent. Olivia is standing in front of the entrance to the Emerald tent, facing it. I approach her from behind. She has her earbuds in, and she's... singing? In all the time I've spent with her, she's never sung. Her singing voice sounds great, so I don't know why she never let me hear it.

I listen to her sing the entire song. The chorus is the most intense overall, but she _really_ ups the intensity during the third one. It's as if a storm is _actually_ building.

"I should listen to the rest of the album one day," she says after the song ends.

"I didn't know you could sing," I say.

She quickly turns around. "Cloudflare?! H-how much did you hear?"

"Everything after the first verse."

She sighs. "I didn't want anyone to hear that..."

"Why not? You sound amazing."

"No I don't. I hate my singing voice."

"I don't know why, 'cause it sounds great. Almost as good as Sunset's."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"I'm serious. You've got a real talent. I just wish you would've let me hear it. I mean, you heard _me_ try to do Vocals in Rock Hero."

"Heh... Yeah, I guess..."

"Now both of us can sing."

"Except I can sing well."

"I've gotten better since you last heard me. Actually, strange thing about that. You know how Spike was able to speak after getting caught in that magic stream?"

"Yeah."

"Well, after my hand slipped into AJ's, my singing voice improved."

"Sure it did," she says sarcastically.

I clear my throat, then sing the first verse and chorus of my favorite song.

"See?" I say after I finish.

"Okay, I get it," she says angrily. "You can sing. You don't have to make a freakin' _competition_ out of it." She walks away.

"I... wasn't." What was _that?_ Does she think I was trying to one-up her?

* * *

I return to the picnic area. Olivia is sitting at one of the tables.

I walk over to her and sit across from her. "How's it going?"

"Ehh, I've been better. I can't believe I acted like that..."

"Yeah, what _was_ that? Why did you think I was trying to show you up?"

"I don't know! While you were singing, all of a sudden I felt... annoyed. Angry, even. I genuinely thought you wanted to prove that you had the better singing voice."

"Prove I had the..." That sounds almost identical to what the sirens did. But... "No, it couldn't be."

"What? You know why that happened?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to say anything until I know for sure."

"Well, while you think it over," Olivia says, "I'm gonna go practice my archery skills."

"Have fun."

She stands up and walks to the archery targets.

There's no way I can do that stuff. I was directly exposed to magic at the Friendship Games, but that wasn't the stuff the sirens had. Besides, up until today, the only effect it had was an improved singing voice. I know it wouldn't affect my other friends, but it also didn't affect Apple Bloom when she heard me, and she's magicless. Not to mention the other problem with me having siren powers: There's no way I could've gotten them in the first place. I never wore any of their pendants, I didn't taste siren blood, they didn't suck my blood... They _did_ put their hands on my shoulders, but that was to feed on my negativity, and I'm fairly confident Equestrian magic of any kind isn't contagious. If it was, half the school would be ponying up every week.

That, or somebody's messing with me. It's probably one of Rainbow's pranks. Makes a hell of a lot more sense. If so, I'm amazed she got Olivia to play along.


	5. Day 2, part 2 & Evening 2

Rock climbing... I've seen this at the amusement park every time I've gone there, but never tried it out because it costs extra. As curious as I was, I wasn't curious enough to spend $10 for one climb. Now, I have the chance to experience it for free.

"Ready?" Olivia asks.

"As I'll ever be," I say. I'm actually kinda nervous. I know the harness system is designed to keep me from falling and Olivia will make sure of that, but I'm still _scaling a wall_ with only a small number of footholds.

* * *

 **A/N: To make this easier to follow, look at a distance screenshot of the rock climbing wall. Cloudflare is on the left side, and he starts on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th climbing holds. He never moves to the vertical center.**

* * *

I take a deep breath, then grab onto the first holds and move my left foot onto the lowest one. Once I have a good grip and feel my foot is as secured as it's gonna get, I put my right foot on the second-lowest hold. "Okay, so far so good." I grab the next one with my right hand. I move my left foot up to the one below my left hand. Not the best position, but I think I can still reach the next one on the left. With my foot secured, I push up and grab the next hold, then get my right foot on the hold my hand started on.

"They don't give you much time to practice before they throw an outward slope your way." After taking a moment to plan out my path, I carefully climb onto the slope. As soon as my other foot leaves the first level, I realize just how difficult this is. Less of my weight is being supported by my legs, so I have to grip the upper holds tighter. I quickly push up with my right leg and place my left foot on the hold above the previous one, then reach up and grab the first hold on the next level with my left hand. I quickly move my right foot up, then my right hand. Now that I'm more straightened out, I think I can loosen my grip slightly.

There's a new problem, though. Staying to the far left has taken me to a dead-end. There's no way I can make it to the purple hold. I look down, but I can't see my feet from this angle. I need to move to the center, which is a little difficult when I can't tell where I'm stepping to. "Olivia! Is there a foothold next to my right foot?"

"No, there's not!" she says. "The closest one is below your foot!" Ah, geez... I cautiously move my foot down. "Right... Up a little..."

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake. Okay, there's no way I'm climbing during an earthquake! I quickly move my foot back to where it was and grip the holds even tighter than before. Once the shaking stops, I say to Olivia, "I'm done climbing. Let me back down." I let go, and she slowly lowers me to the ground.

"Are you alright?"

I remove my harness. "I'm fine. Just a little shaken up."

She lightly punches my arm. "That was terrible, and you should feel terrible."

"Hey!" Bulk Biceps yells. "Who left this... crystally... dusty stuff here?!" There's a trail of sparkly dust on the ground near them. Okay, Rainbow, you can call off the prank now.

"I think I'd like to come down now!" Rarity yells. I look up. She's at roughly the same height I was.

AJ tries, but the rope won't budge. "Sorry. It's a little stuck." She pulls on the rope to get it unstuck, and she ends up pulling really hard.

Wait, did her hands and wrists glow orange?

She lets go in surprise. I look up again, and Rarity's falling really fast, screaming in fear. I quickly get underneath her and hold out my arms to catch her. She stops right as she lands in my arms. I look at AJ, who barely managed to grab the rope in time.

"Applejack!" Rarity yells. "What are you doing?!"

"Is everything okay over there?" Principal Celestia asks as I set Rarity down.

"I don't know what happened!" AJ says. "I didn't even pull the rope that hard! It's like she was light as a feather all of a sudden!"

"I was scared half to death!" Rarity says.

"It wasn't my fault! Let me help you get your harness off."

"No thank you!" As she holds her hands out to stop AJ, a... giant gem... appears and pushes AJ into a nearby bush.

I sigh. "So much for a magic-free adventure..." 'Annoyed' doesn't even _begin_ to describe how I feel about this.

When she steps out, she's soaking wet. Guess there's a pond back there.

"What in the world just happened?!" The principal runs over to her.

"Oh dear..." Rarity says. "I am so sorry. I think. Did I just do... whatever that was?"

"I... don't think it was your fault," Twilight nervously says. "I'm gonna go get Applejack a towel." She walks away.

"Me, too." Sunset follows. Why does getting a towel require two people?

"I need to talk to you in private," Olivia says to me.

"Okay." I follow her away from the climbing wall.

"I wasn't gonna tell you, but after this, I might as well."

"Tell me what?"

"Yesterday, when we all went to our tents, I walked past the tent Twilight and Sunset are staying in. Something in there caught my attention out of the corner of my eye, so I peeked inside. A lot of the things they had in there were floating and surrounded by a purple aura. Twilight was doing that, but we don't know how. Sunset wanted to tell the others, but Twilight convinced her to keep it a secret, especially from you, and I agreed. I know you wanted a normal school-sanctioned event for once, and Twilight didn't want anybody to be mad at her."

"And after the thing with Rarity and Applejack, you figured there's no harm in letting me in on your secret?"

She nods. "Uh-huh."

Now Twilight's 'I didn't mean to' line from earlier makes sense. "I appreciate your concern. I wouldn't have been mad at _her_ , but I definitely would've been a little aggravated at the possibility of her magic affecting something. I'm actually more annoyed at those magic outbursts than I would've been if you told me this yesterday. I knew you three were hiding something, but I had no idea all of _this_ would happen."

There's a loud scream. "That was Fluttershy!" Olivia says. "Let's go!" We run to the building next to the gazebo. Twilight, Sunset, and Spike are running toward it as well. "Just make sure you keep it between us. Twilight _really_ doesn't want anybody to know."

"My lips are sealed."

They get to the door first. When we get there, we look inside. There's dough on the tables, floor, and even the ceiling. It's also on Pinkie and Fluttershy.

"I don't know!" Fluttershy says. "We were just decorating cookies." The five of us walk inside.

"And I was all, ' _You_ need more sprinkles, and _you_ need more sprinkles, and _**you**_ need more sprinkles!" Pinkie says, with hand gestures. Sprinkles for everycookie!

"So standard Pinkie Pie stuff," Sunset says.

"I was just tossing sprinkles to Fluttershy, when all of a sudden it glowed pink and exploded!" She tosses some in the air, and it explodes into a pink dust. When it clears, it's gotten on all of us. Pinkie shakes the cookie dough out of her hair. "Just like that, only earlier!"

"O...kay..." Sunset takes ahold of Pinkie's wrist. "Why don't you hold off touching stuff for a while?"

"Oh dear," Fluttershy says. "We really _should_ clean all of this up." She runs over to the supply shelf and tries to reach the paper towels, which are just out of reach. "Can someone help me out?"

Before I can say anything, a bird flies in through the open window, grabs the paper towel roll in its feet, and drops it in her hands.

"Thank you, Mr. Bird."

The bird chirps.

"Why, of course I can give you a little something to –" She stops herself. "Did... you just... talk?"

It says something else. Probably a yes, based on how short it was.

"I don't speak chirp."

*chirp*

"I don't know if you're the only bird I can understand."

I sigh. Twilight can levitate stuff, Applejack has super strength, Rarity has gem barriers, Pinkie has sprinkle grenades, and Fluttershy can communicate with birds.

"Oh, no. _Please_ don't call for your friends."

Five more birds, and two owls, land on her arms.

"It's... nice to meet all of you, too."

"Were you just talking to the birds?" Sunset asks.

"Um... Yes?"

The door opens loudly, causing Fluttershy to yelp and the birds to fly away. Rarity and AJ enter.

"Did you tell 'em what happened?" AJ asks. "So crazy."

The only people left are Rainbow and Sunset. Maybe Spike. Wonder what his magic power would be. Perhaps a squirrel radar. 'Squirreldar'?

I guess that Dark Gaea Everfree story _was_ true, and Rainbow _isn't_ pranking me. So... does that mean...

"Speaking of disappearin'..." Oh, right. They were explaining to Pinkie and Fluttershy what happened. "Has anybody seen Rainbow?"

As if on cue, the doors burst open and a rainbow trail rushes through the room before stopping at the wall. It's Rainbow Dash.

" _Ow!_ "

Super speed for Rainbow Flash. Makes sense.

AJ runs over to her. "Whoa. How'd ya do that?"

"I dunno!" AJ helps her get to her feet. "I started running to get the harness, and the next thing I knew, I was practically back in town!"

"But if you had some sort of super speed," Rarity says, "why were you gone for so long?"

"Because I lost it when I got far away, and then it came back when I got close to camp."

Pinkie gasps. "Being at camp is giving us all new magical abilities!"

"Not _all_ of us have gotten new abilities," Sunset says. "I haven't."

"Neither have I," Olivia says.

"Or me," I say. "At least, I don't _think_ I have."

"But Twilight..." Twilight shakes her head. "...hasn't, either."

"Maybe it's a timing thing," I say. "Sunset might have a new ability, but it hasn't had a chance to show up yet. Same for Twilight."

"You don't seem upset over all this," Sunset says to me. "I thought you'd be mad. That's why Olivia said – Uh, never mind."

She doesn't know that I know. "I got most of that out of my system when this whole thing started."

AJ sighs. "So much for my idea that leavin' CHS would mean leavin' any new magic business behind."

"Something at the camp must be making this happen," Sunset says.

"Um... Gaea Everfree?" Fluttershy suggests. At this point, that's the only explanation that makes sense.

The door opens, and Fluttershy screams. It's just Gloriosa with towels, shirts, and AJ's hat. "Applejack! I was looking for you!" How long is she gonna keep up that act? She walks over to AJ and puts the hat on AJ's head as she hands over the towels and shirts. "Here! I brought you some towels and dry clothes!" She notices the baking mess. "Uh, what happened in here?"

"We're kinda trying to figure that out," Sunset says.

"Well, don't worry about it. I got this!" Stop saying that!

The door opens. "Gloriosa!" Sandalwood and the muffin girl are standing there. "I kicked my beanbag into the lake!" Sandalwood says.

"I'll get you another one!" she says.

"And I'm all out of arrows!" the girl says, holding 3 arrows... broken in ways that shouldn't happen if you're using them properly.

"Say no more! New arrows coming right up!"

Timber pushes past Sandalwood and the girl. "There you are!" He walks over to Gloriosa, then whispers something to her.

"Absolutely not!" she replies in a loud whisper. "I've got this!" she says in her obviously fake cheery tone, then they walk out.

"Fluttershy, enough with the screaming!" Sunset says. What screaming?

"I didn't scream," Fluttershy says.

"For once!" Rainbow says.

"Nobody did," Rarity says.

"If anybody's gonna scream," I say, "it'll be _me_ if Gloriosa says 'I've got this' one more time."

"Attention campers," Principal Celestia says over the intercom. "Anyone who's interested in making floating paper lanterns, please meet us by the picnic tables."

"I dunno about the rest of y'all," AJ says, "but I've been looking forward to coming here for a month. Maybe we forget about this 'new magic' for a bit and just try to focus on enjoyin' our time at camp."

"I was _also_ excited about the designs I've come up with for the camp fashion show!" Rarity says.

"And I barely got to whoop _anybody_ in tetherball!" Rainbow says.

"I think we should try to figure it out," Sunset says, "but if letting it go for now is what the rest of you want..."

I look at Twilight. She has that nervous expression again. I wonder if she still thinks she had something to do with all this.

* * *

 *****Olivia's POV*****

All of us are sitting at the picnic tables making our lanterns. Cloudflare's sitting with Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Sunset, while I'm sitting with Twilight and Spike. She was sitting by herself, so I decided to join her. She hasn't said much. I tried striking up a conversation, but every time she indicated by her tone that she wasn't interested in chatting.

Her lantern is purple with stars and crescent moons, while mine has various horizontal color stripes: Yellow, white, orange, blue, pink, purple, red, and a lighter orange. The light orange stripe is slightly wider than the others and in the middle of the lantern. It might not be the prettiest, but it represents everything getting better for me over the past month. That means more to me than its appearance.

"Hey, Twilight," Spike says. "Why aren't you with everyone else?"

"Sunset said something at camp is causing the other girls to get new magic," she says. She whispers something to him.

"What are we gonna do?" he says.

"I don't know what I _can_ do."

"If you're worried about them finding out you've had magic this whole time, don't worry. Cloudflare didn't get mad at you, and neither will the others."

"Cloudflare?"

Oops. "Ah, crap..." I forgot she still thinks only the 3 of us knows.

"You told him about what happened in the tent? I thought we agreed to keep it a secret, _especially_ from him!"

I sigh. "We did."

"So why did you tell him?!"

"The only reason I agreed to not let him in on it was because he wanted a magic-free school event. Once Applejack and Rarity got those abilities, I figured it wouldn't hurt to fill him in. He told me he wouldn't have been annoyed that you _have_ magic, but rather the chance that your magic would've affected something. And before you ask, don't worry. He won't tell the others."

"Okay, everyone!" Gloriosa says. "It's time to watch your lanterns fly!"

* * *

 *****Cloudflare's POV*****

I follow the others over to Gloriosa and the principals. My lantern is red with various parts of a drumkit on it. I _love_ playing the drums, and I really wish I had my own kit. It's so much fun! Still wish the hi-hat was less of a pain, though...

We step onto the dock. As Principal Celestia lights the candles in our lanterns, I look at Olivia's lantern. "That's an... interesting design."

"It's not supposed to be fashionable," she says. "Each color represents the friends I've made over the past month." She points to the light orange stripe. "This one's you."

"Why is it wider than the others?"

"Because you were my first friend in years. Probably my best friend _ever_."

Ever? "I mean _that_ much to you?"

"Of course. You were the _only_ person who wanted anything to do with me." She sighs. "If only you were in my school when I lost my leg..."

"Ready..." Gloriosa says. "And... Go!"

We all release our lanterns into the sky. They all stay airborne, except for Pinkie's, which crashes to the ground from the weight of all the marshmallows.

"Aw... Oh well! Now I get to eat it!" She grabs a couple marshmallows and shoves them into her mouth. "Yup. Beautiful and delicious."

I look at the lanterns again. Now that they're all in the air, they look even more amazing.

"They're so beautiful," Sunset says.

I grab her hand and look at her. "Not as beautiful as you," I say with a smile. She looks at me and returns the smile.

This feels like the right time. I take ahold of her other hand. After staring into each other's eyes for a few seconds, I glance at her lips. Well, here goes nothing. I slowly lean forward, and she does the same. I close my eyes. Almost...

"Ack!" Sunset?

I open my eyes as she lets go of my hands. "What happened?"

"Something hit the back of my head."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I look down near her feet. Pinkie's lantern is lying there.

"Before you say anything," Pinkie says, " _I_ didn't throw it. Olivia did."

"Olivia? Why would she do that?" I ask.

"Well, um..." Olivia says. "I thought since she ate some of the marshmallows off of it... maybe it was light enough to stay in the air?"

That was even less convincing than Gloriosa. "You're lying."

"I am not!"

"I can tell when you're making excuses. You're acting weird, too. This isn't like you."

"Maybe if you didn't try to make out with your girlfriend in front of your ex, I wouldn't –"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Is she serious right now?! "You said you were fine with Sunset and I being together!"

"Yeah, but not seeing you two tongue wrestle!"

"We weren't gonna 'tongue wrestle'!"

She's getting more and more agitated. "Sure as hell looked like it!"

"That's enough!" Principal Celestia interrupts. "Olivia, go to your tent! I don't want to hear another word out of you!"

"But he was about to –"

"Now!"

Olivia angrily sighs, then runs to the tent area. For once, the principal did something right.

"I thought you said she _isn't_ the jealous type," Sunset says.

"She's not. I don't know why she got like that. You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. She didn't throw it very hard".

So much for the perfect moment.

* * *

 *****Olivia's POV*****

I reach my tent, walk inside, and lie down on my bed.

"I have no idea what's wrong with me all of a sudden. First I think Cloudflare's trying to boast about having a superior singing voice, and now I throw something at Sunset in a jealous rage when she and Cloudflare were about to kiss and I start arguing with him. I'm _never_ that jealous, and he and I have never gotten into a heated argument before." I sigh. "The other girls get magical abilities, and I become a completely different person..."

It all started when Cloudflare sang. But why? Why would his singing make me get so defensive?


	6. Day 3, part 1

*****Cloudflare's POV*****

I walk out of the Onyx tent. At the same time, I see Olivia walk out of the Emerald tent. I approach her. "Hey, Olivia."

"Cloudflare..." She looks like she barely got any sleep. She sighs. "Look, I'm _really_ sorry for what happened last night. I don't know _what_ got into me."

"Hey, _I'm_ the one who should apologize. I was the reason you acted like that."

"What do you mean?"

We start walking to the activity area. "Remember when I told you about the sirens and how they used their singing to manipulate and provoke everyone?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I don't know how, but I have some of their magic."

"But I thought you said you weren't exposed to magic until the Friendship Games."

"I wasn't. At least, I don't _think_ I was. But there's no other explanation that makes sense. I sang, you got defensive, then that night you threw that lantern at Sunset in a jealous rage. The only way that could happen is if I have siren powers."

She lets out what sounds like an annoyed sigh.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm still new to this whole magic thing. It's tough for me to accept something like that as anything but fantasy."

"I know _that_ feeling. It sounds like something out of My Little Horsie."

She gives me a quizzical look. "Are you serious? _You_ watch My Little Horsie?"

"No, but I saw a few toy commercials in the mid-2000s. Anyway, all I have to do is not sing while we're here and you'll be fine."

"Sounds simple enough. So, when could you have gotten their magic?"

"I'm not entirely certain, but it might've been when they were feeding on my hatred for the school. Putting their hands on my shoulders probably transferred a small amount of their powers to me, which remained dormant until I got directly exposed to Equestrian magic and didn't fully awaken until we came here."

"You're not gonna turn evil, are you?"

"No way. I don't have any way to absorb people's negativity, and what I can do with the ability is rather limited here. I guess I could use it to find out what Gloriosa is hiding. Just don't tell the others. I don't want them to be suspicious."

"No problem."

* * *

Sunset and I reach the dock, which our friends, minus Olivia, are still rebuilding.

"I don't know how to control this," Rarity says as she helps Rainbow and Fluttershy to their feet.

"It's okay," Rainbow says.

"None of us do," Fluttershy says.

"Which is why we shouldn't pretend none of this is happening," Sunset says.

"Do you have them now, too?" Rainbow asks.

"It started last night. When I touch people, it's like I can feel what they're feeling and see their memories." Huh... I wasn't expecting something like that.

"Ooh! Fancy!" Pinkie says. "Try me! Try me!" She grabs Sunset's wrist and moves Sunset's hand to her forehead.

Sunset's eyes go completely white for a few seconds, then return to normal and she lowers her hand. Her expression tells me she's seen something very surprising and bizarre. "That explains so much..."

"Yup!"

"What about me?" I ask.

"Sure, why not? Can't be any crazier than _that_." She takes ahold of my hand. Her eyes go white, then back to normal as she lets go. "So _that's_ who you were waving to. And did she _really_ think that was grape juice?"

I chuckle. "Yeah. She's a bit of an airhead."

She looks at the girls. "We can't just brush these powers aside because it doesn't _seem_ like the ideal time to get them. What if it turns out that we can actually make things better?"

 _So you have magic..._

Okay, seriously? What is this, Camp Everfree Musical?

I leave and head for the archery targets. Over the last several years, I've started to dislike TV shows where the characters spontaneously break into songs, and I hate it even more when it happens in real life. I also didn't think it _could_ happen in real life.

Olivia's firing arrows into one of the targets. "How's it going?" I ask.

"Not too bad. My average is still in the low 20s." She sets the bow down.

"Better than what I could do."

"What happened at the dock? Weren't you and your girlfriend going to help the girls finish it?"

"Sunset is, but I'm not."

"How come?"

"She started singing."

"Singing?"

"Yeah, like in Greased. Just breaking into song without warning and for no reason."

"Principal Cinch and the Shadowbolts did the same thing, and even Twilight joined in."

I sigh. "It feels like our lives are turning into a little girls' cartoon more and more every week."

"Only not as crappy."

"Surely there are _some_ shows that have a wider appeal."

She shakes her head. "None that I've seen. Speaking of Sunset, does she have any new magic yet?"

"She does. When she touches someone, she can see their memories and feel how they're feeling."

"Hm... That's... surprising. I was expecting her to levitate stuff."

"Like Twilight?"

"Yeah. At least for Sunset, it would make sense."

"It would?" How?

She gives me an annoyed look and crosses her arms. "Seriously? You forgot your girlfriend used to be a unicorn in Equestria?"

Oh, right. "Of course I remember! I just wanted to see if _you_ did."

"Uh-huh. Sure." Yeah, she's not buying it. "Enough about that. Wanna shoot a few arrows?" She picks up her bow.

Since I'm already here... "Sure, why not?" She hands it to me. I pick up an arrow, load it, and take aim at the target.

Olivia snickers. " _That's_ your shooting stance?"

I look down. "Uh... Yes? What's wrong with it?"

"What _isn't_ wrong with it? Give me that." I hand over the bow and arrow. "Watch me." As she aims at the target, I look at how she's standing. Her body isn't facing the target. Instead, she's facing off to the side. She releases the arrow, and it hits the center of the target. "Got it?"

She hands me the bow. "I think so." I load an arrow, then mimic her stance.

"That's better. Move your right leg back a bit." I do so. "Not _back_ back. _Right_ back." Oh, right. I do that. "Perfect."

This _does_ feel like a more natural stance. I aim slightly above the center, then release the arrow. It hits to the left of the center.

"There ya go."

* * *

 *****Olivia's POV*****

After a half hour of giving him a crash course in archery, Cloudflare and I join everyone else at the dock. Our friends have finished fixing it.

Sunset runs past us. Now might be a good time. "I'll be right back," I say. "I want to apologize to her for last night." I take off after her. "Sunset, wait up!"

She looks back. "Olivia?" She slows down so I can catch up.

"Where are you off to?"

"I'm gonna find Twilight. I helped the other girls embrace their magical abilities, so maybe I can do the same for her."

A voice from inside one of the buildings stops us. "I just wish you didn't tell them that ridiculous story!"

Sunset carefully sneaks up to the door, and I follow.

"Ah, this is all too much for you!" Another voice says. Sounds like Timber. "You _have_ to let it go!"

"I knew it!" Sunset quietly says. " _He_ wants her to get rid of the camp!"

"Timber?" I quietly say. "I thought Gloriosa was the suspicious one."

The door bursts open, almost hitting Sunset, and Gloriosa storms out of the building, followed by Timber.

"I'll explain later." She jumps off the deck. "Right now, we have to get to Twi– Oof!" She bumps into Flash.

"Sunset Shimmer?" He looks at me. "Olivia? What were you two doing behind that door?"

"What? Um... Nothing! I, um... lost an earring!" Convincing.

"Uh... right!" I say, playing along. "And I was helping her look for it!"

She looks down. "There it is!" She picks up a... rock? ...then turns around and puts it in her pocket.

"Hey, listen," Flash says. "I'm glad I ran into you. I really wanted to thank you."

"For what?" Sunset turns back around.

"For the tough love. Telling me I should get over Twilight. I needed to hear that."

"I'll leave you two alone," I say. No need to stick around. I head for the tent area. Maybe Twilight's in her tent.

I should check my prosthesis first. Even a little bit of running is more than I'm supposed to do. When I reach the tents, I go into mine. I sit on my bed and take off my right sock and shoe, then remove the leg. The limb itself looks fine, and there's no redness on my stump. That's a good sign, but I'm still a bit worried. I know Cloudflare told me not to, but I can't help it.

I 'reattach' everything, then leave the tent. As I approach the Sapphire tent, Twilight and Spike run out.

"Hey, Twilight! Wait up!" They stop. "Sunset wants to talk to you."

"I know. She just texted me."

"She texted you?"

"Yeah. She said to meet her by the rock quarry."

"The rock quarry? I thought we weren't allowed out there."

"That's what _I_ said," Spike says.

"Also, why the rock quarry?"

"She said it's important," Twilight says. They resume running, and I follow.

"So important, she had to run _away_ from your tent to tell you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind."

* * *

As we get close to the quarry, we see a pink flash of light.

"What _is_ that?" Twilight asks.

"Knowing what's been going on lately," I say, "probably something magic-related."

"Twilight, Olivia. There you are." Sunset walks up to us. "This way." She runs ahead, and we follow.

We get to a clearing. There's a cave opening with several boulders in front of it. Behind them is a pink glow similar to what we saw a minute ago.

"What's going on down there?" Twilight quietly says.

"I think it's Gaea Everfree," Sunset says, "or, rather, someone who wants us to _think_ she's back. Come on." We walk to the entrance and enter the cave.

Inside are a bunch of red crystal-like objects on the walls. At other end is a series of stalagmites bathed in a light that seems to be coming from... the rocks themselves?

"This place is beautiful," Twilight says.

"There's... Equestrian magic here," Sunset says. "I can... I can feel it.

I sigh. _Of course_ there is.

"Wait..." Spike says. "I thought Timber was just _faking_ there was a magical nature creature. Are you saying it's real?"

"Timber?" Twilight says. "What does _he_ have to do with this?"

"I'm with Twilight," I say.

"Nothing," another voice says. We look toward the entrance, and Gloriosa is standing there. "It's all _me_." She flashes an evil-looking grin.

"Gloriosa? But... Timber... I was sure _he_ was the one trying to make it seem like Gaea Everfree was back. It was _you_ who was trying to scare everyone away?"

"I would _never_ try to scare _anyone_ away from Camp Everfree," Gloriosa says in an... I'm not sure how to put it. Her tone is more sinister than it usually is, but it's also oddly calm.

Sunset grabs her wrist. Suddenly, her eyes turn completely white.

"Is she okay?" I quietly ask Twilight.

"It's her new magic," she whispers. "She can see people's memories and what they're feeling."

"Oh, so _that's_ what it looks like."

After about 10 seconds, her eyes return to normal and she lets go of Gloriosa's wrist. "Timber wasn't talking about letting go of the _camp_. He was talking about _you_ letting go of the magical geodes! All those things you were doing to make this week the best week ever, every time you used magic to do them caused another problem somewhere else!" Sunset has been slowly approaching Gloriosa, and now Gloriosa is backed against the glowing rocks. There are three geodes behind her: Red, purple, and what looks like a greenish-blue, as well as five holes for the ones on her necklace.

"Timber was..." She looks at Twilight for a moment. "...covering for you."

"How do you know what I was doing with the geodes?" Gloriosa asks. "How do _you_ know about the magic?"

"I can see things, feel things, because _I_ have magic, too..." She motions to Twilight. "...and so does she, and so do all of our friends."

"Well, _most_ of our friends," I say.

"Gloriosa," Twilight says, "Timber wasn't wrong. Maybe you should stop using magic. Too much of it can be dangerous if you can't control it!"

"Oh, I got this, and I'm going to use it to save my camp!" Gloriosa looks at the remaining geodes. "I just need more power!" She reaches for them. This is my only chance.

"No!"

I start running at her as she puts a hand over the geodes and holds the other hand out toward us. There's a flash of light, and suddenly I lose my balance. I barely get my hands up in time to prevent faceplanting.

"Damn it, what now?!" Before I can turn over, I feel several rope-like objects wrap around me and force me down on my stomach. "What... the hell..." I try breaking free, but these things have a tight grip.

I look up. Vines coil around Gloriosa's legs and midsection, then her clothing, hair, and entire appearance change. Levitating, with dark black eyes, she looks almost exactly like how Timber described Gaea Everfree.

"Sorry, girls. I know what I need to do." She floats past me. I look back, and Twilight & Sunset have also been bound by the vines. "But I feel like we're not on the same page, so..." She heads for the exit.

"You won't get away with this!" I yell.

When she leaves, several vines grab the boulders and start moving them together.

"No!"

The boulders are pushed together, sealing the entrance.

I sigh. "Great. _Now_ we're trapped." I spot something against the left-hand cave wall. It's black and blocking part of a red crystal-type thing on the wall. Something white is on one end. It almost looks like... "Is that my shoe?" I look behind me, trying to see my lower half. I can't see anything on the right side, so I check my left side. I'm really straining my neck, but I can see a little bit of white and black. I go back to my right side, and I still can't see anything.

The way I lost my balance... It kinda reminds me of the Friendship Games. My prosthesis broke, and...

Hang on... I look at the black-and-white object. "That... That's my leg!" A vine must've grabbed it, yanked it off, and thrown it against the wall. "Gah, damn it! Not again!" I sigh again. "This whole thing is your fault, Shimmer."

" _My_ fault? How is it _my_ fault?! Gloriosa is the one who's going mad with power!"

"It's your fault we're trapped in here! You said you wanted to talk to Twilight about her magic, and we were on our way to her tent. Then you overheard Gloriosa and Timber arguing and literally ran into your ex-boyfriend, and for some reason you decided to talk to Twilight _here_ instead."

"I saw Timber run off in this direction! I _had_ to see what he was up to! And why did you follow Twilight in the first place? I only needed to talk to _her!_ "

"I wanted to know why you went all the way out here!"

"You could've just texted me!"

"Hell, _everything_ that's happened this school year has been your fault! The sirens targeted CHS because _you_ stole Princess Twilight's crown! Both of those magic disturbances are what made Twilight build that magic-draining device and allowed Principal Cinch to manipulate her into becoming Midnight Sparkle and almost destroy the world! _**You**_ were the one who forced Cloudflare and I to –"

...It's happening again. I _need_ to calm down.

I take a deep breath. "I'm _really_ sorry, Sunset. I didn't mean to snap at you. Cloudflare's magic is still affecting me, and being trapped in this cave isn't helping matters."

"That _still_ hasn't worn off?"

"What do you mean 'Cloudflare's magic'?" Twilight asks.


	7. Day 3, part 2

*****Cloudflare's POV*****

The girls begin the dress rehearsal for their fashion show. I gotta say, that dock _does_ work as a nice runway. They have to cover up the end that juts out, though. Kinda ruins the presentation if we can see the dresses ahead of time.

What happened to Sunset and Olivia? They left to go talk to Twilight 15 minutes ago, but none of them were in their tents. I texted them, but I guess they have their phones off.

After a minute, the music stops.

"Why did you stop the –" Rarity starts to say, then gasps. "Oh my goodness!"

Everyone's looking away from the dock in surprise. I turn around.

Yeah, that _would_ get everybody's attention.

Someone dressed in all green with blue two-toned hair, pitch black eyes, and a green aura is levitating through the campground.

"Hello, campers!"

"It's Gaea Everfree!" Trixie yells.

"She's real!" Flash yells.

I look at her more carefully. Black eyes, shimmering aura, wild hair... Flowers on her shoes? Timber never mentioned _that_ detail. Actually, they kinda remind me of –

"Gloriosa? What are you doing?!" Yeah, what Timber said. Although I'm glad to know my suspicions were right all along, I kinda wish they weren't.

"I have an announcement to make!" she says. "Filthy Rich wants this to be the last session of Camp Everfree! But don't worry! I've got this!" She slams her hands into the ground, and suddenly a large wall of branches erupt around the campground.

I hear screaming behind me and a crash. I look back, and my friends are on the ground. The branches shot up through the dock... destroying it... again...

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow says. "We literally just finished building that!"

"I think we've got bigger problems," I say.

 _I have waited for the day..._

No, no, no! Not _another_ villain song! First Cinch and now Gloriosa... Why is this a thing? Just do what you're planning and spare us the musical number!

I _so_ want to yell all that, especially after walking away from Sunset's song, but I learned my lesson after the Friendship Games. It'll only make things worse. I'll at least pay attention to what she's... singing...

Several students and the principals take shelter in the food room, which Gloriosa then covers with branches. Timber grabs an ax and tries cutting down the branches, but she grabs it and traps his hands in more branches and lifts him into the air.

If I'm understanding her song correctly, she's trying to prevent Filthy Rich from repossessing the camp by sealing it off from the outside world, and she wants to keep us as permanent campers. I know she means well, but this isn't the way to go about it.

You know what? I'm through with being a silent observer! I'll try it _her_ way! I run up to where she's hovering.

 _"I have heard enough of that  
You are being such a brat  
Although you're acting with good intentions  
I feel it's time for an intervention"_

I start rising off the ground. I'm not sure how, but I'll worry about it later.

 _"I know you want to save this place  
But doing this is a disgrace  
Trapping us here is not the answer  
Clear your mind of all your anger"_

"Silence!" Gloriosa yells.

I glance behind me. It looks like I have wings now, which are flapping. More specifically, bat-like wings. I think they're siren wings. Okay, so I ponied up, or would it be sirened up? I'll figure out why and how after all this is over.

I don't think I can take her out myself – especially since my 'new ability' didn't do jack – but maybe I can buy the girls some time. I start to slowly circle around her. "I _knew_ there was something off about you. Your over-the-top cheerfulness set off a red flag right away. Even without Filthy Rich making a surprise appearance, I suspected you were hiding something. The tension between you and your brother was a little much even for siblings."

She smirks. "You _were_ the only person to confront me directly. It's too bad you didn't put all of the pieces together!"

"I get that you've run this camp for years and you want to do everything you can to hold onto it, but this is the wrong way to go about doing so!"

"You're starting to sound like your girlfriend," she says in an aggravated tone. "It's only fitting that I deal with _you_ the same way!"

"Wait, what?!" Something grabs my ankle. I look down. A branch has wrapped around my entire left leg. I try pulling it off, but its grip is too tight. "What did you do to her?!"

"Oh, don't worry. I didn't harm her. She's just... incapacitated. Much like _you're_ about to be."

Two more wrap around my wrists and force my arms to my sides, then a fourth one coils around my torso. I try very hard to break free, but my struggling proves futile.

Suddenly, the branches release their grip. Don't know why, but I'll take it. I fly away from Gloriosa and approach my friends, who have all ponied up. There's a hole in the wall, which quickly gets repaired by more branches.

"This isn't workin'!" AJ says. "Her magic is too strong!"

"What the heck were you _thinking?!_ " Rainbow says to me, angrily. "You could've gotten seriously hurt! You're lucky Pinkie always carries sprinkles with her! And how did you get those wings?"

"Chastise me later," I say. I look up at Gloriosa.

Sunset, where are you...?

* * *

 *****Olivia's POV*****

Spike runs over to me and starts biting on the vines. After a few seconds, he breaks through them and I can get them off me. I stand up, hop over to my prosthesis, sit down, and pick it up. I remove the shoe and sock, then look it over. Thankfully, there's no damage to it.

I 'reassemble it', then walk back over to the others. Spike has already freed them. Sunset runs over to the boulders and tries pushing one of them. It doesn't budge.

"Twilight, you _have_ to use your magic," she says.

"I don't think I can lift something that big."

"It's our only chance of getting out of here and helping our friends!"

Spike looks at Twilight and nods. She sets him down, then approaches the boulders. She holds her hands forward, and the boulder starts to glow purple. After a few seconds, it moves back. For someone who's never intentionally used magic like that before, that was really impressive. We leave the cave.

I'm not sure how close to the main campgrounds Gloriosa is, but I'll warn them anyway. I get out my phone. 3 texts from Cloudflare? Crap, must've had it on silent. He was wondering where Sunset and I disappeared to.

I call him. Hopefully _his_ ringer isn't off.

After a few rings, he answers. "Where the hell are you?!"

"Sorry, I had it on silent. We're on our way back from the rock quarry."

"The rock quarry? What were you doing there?"

"No time. Listen... Gloriosa is on her way to the campgrounds. I don't know what she's –"

"Yeah, I know! She's here _now!_ "

I can kinda hear her in the background. "Why are y– –ng me?! I'm doing thi– –ave our camp! I'm d– for _you!_ "

"Is Sunset with you?" Cloudflare asks.

"Yeah, and Twilight."

"Put Sunset on."

Put... "Huh? Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Okay, okay! Sunset! Your boyfriend wants to talk to you."

I hand her my phone. "Cloudflare? ... Well, I had to tell Twilight something. ... _Yes,_ at the rock quarry! Look, I'll – ... I'll explain later. We're almost there. ... What do you mean? ... Wait! ... Hello? Cloudflare?"

"Is he okay?"

She gives me back my phone. "He hung up."

As we get near the campgrounds, our path is blocked by a wall of vines... Or rather, branches.

"Oh, _that's_ what he meant," Sunset says. She tries pulling on some of them, but they won't move. "Twilight, do you think you can use your magic?"

"I don't want to use too much. Midnight Sparkle could take over!" Midnight... Wait... What?!

"Twilight!" Sunset grabs Twilight's hands, and they start glowing. "Your friends are in there!" Suddenly, Sunset ponies up.

"Okay." Twilight walks up to the branches and holds her hands up to them. Her hands glow purple and the branches begin moving. As she gets closer, a hole forms in the wall.

Sunset and I step through. Gloriosa is in the middle of what looks like a tree made completely of branches, and she's starting to cover the campground with a dome ceiling of them.

"Please, Gloriosa," Timber says. He's trapped between the tree's 'roots'. "What you're doing is crazy! You have to listen to me!"

"That _isn't_ Gloriosa," Sunset says.

I look around for the other girls..

"Twilight!"

"Sunset!"

"Olivia!"

"You're okay!"

Each of them has ponied up... including Cloudflare?!

Sunset, Twilight, and I run over to Timber. "That _isn't_ your sister," Sunset says. "It's someone who's been consumed by Equestrian magic."

The branch tree begins to grow around her.

"Whoever you are," Timber says, "you have to let my sister go! Please, Gloriosa, come back! I need you!"

She disappears inside the tree as the branches surround her completely. I guess they aren't as close as Twilight and Spike. That, or the magic Gloriosa possesses is even more overpowering than Twilight's magic was.

"Gloriosa!"

More branches approach us. Better get going! As Sunset, Twilight, and I start running, green lightning strikes the ground near us and more branches sprout up. I think we're screwed.

Cloudflare and the girls rush over to us.

"Rarity!" Applejack yells.

Rarity summons a small crystal dome around us just as the branches start closing in.

"I can't keep this up forever!"

I glance at Cloudflare. I _really_ want to ask how he ponied up, but now's not the time.

Sunset grabs Twilight's arms. "It's up to you! You can use your magic to pull the brambles apart!"

"No! There's too many of them! It would take too much magic! I can't!"

"It's the only way! You have to embrace the magic inside you!"

"What if _she_ takes over? What if instead of saving everyone, I turn into Midnight Sparkle and only make things worse?!"

"That won't happen! We _won't_ let it."

Twilight closes her eyes and begins channeling her magic. Her hands glow purple and there's a blue light on her forehead. The branches barely budge.

The barrier cracks and Rarity nearly passes out from exhaustion.

"Come on, Twilight." Sunset grabs Twilight's arms again, and they glow red. "You _have_ to be stronger than she is!"

Twilight tries again. This time, her eyes go white, a green horn appears on her forehead, and her glasses –

Okay... It looks like Midnight _is_ taking over. Can I start panicking now?

Midnight's dark wings appear. " _Nooooooo!_ " Yup. Time to panic.

"Twilight! Listen to me!" Sunset says. " _You_ are in charge!"

" _You_ are our light, darling!" Rarity says. "A force for good!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow says. "You can kick the darkness's butt!"

"We're here for you, Twilight!" Pinkie says.

"And we'll be here no matter what!" Applejack says.

"We believe in you!" Fluttershy says.

"You are _not_ Midnight Sparkle!" Cloudflare says.

Twilight closes her eyes, then opens them, and they're back to normal. "No," she says. "I... am... Twilight Sparkle! And the magic I carry inside me is... the magic of friendship!"

There's a bright flash of light, and I have to avert my eyes. I hear something shatter as the light dims. I look up, and there's a hole in the barrier. Twilight has ponied up – with wings – and is flying near the tree. It starts to 'unravel', revealing Gloriosa.

"No! _Stop!_ " The geodes fly away from her, surrounded by a blue aura, then float over to us. They stop in front of each of the ponied-up students: Yellow for Fluttershy, orange for Applejack, blue for Rainbow, pink for Pinkie, purple for Rarity, red for Sunset, purple for Twilight, and greenish-blue for Cloudflare.

One geode for each of the eight people with Equestrian magic, and they match the person they ended up with... How _convenient_. Cloudflare was right. Our lives _are_ turning into a little girls' cartoon.

There's a flash of light from each of the geodes, and their clothing instantly changes as they rise into the air. Unfortunately, I can't get a good look at their new outfits from this angle. Beams of light matching their geode colors shoot into the sky, followed by an even brighter flash of light which forces me to shut my eyes and shield them with my arm. A few seconds later, I hear a loud crash.

I slowly open my eyes. All the branches that surrounded the camp have disappeared, and green and white... somethings... are falling from the sky. All the students have left the buildings they were taking cover in.

Cloudflare and the girls return to the ground, and everyone cheers. Now that I have a better look at them, their new outfits are incredible, and the girls' wings are blue and crystal-like. Cloudflare stands out the most. He's now wearing a blue suit, a white undershirt, blue dress pants, and black shoes, while his translucent bat-like wings are unchanged. It's not so much the blue that stands out, but rather the fact that he's wearing a suit in the first place. It's a sight I thought I'd never see.

"Wow... So _this_ is what it feels like..." Cloudflare says. "It's a little overwhelming."

"You'll get used to it," Sunset says.

Spike runs up to Twilight and jumps in her arms. "You did it!" He looks at her necklace. "Whoa. Nice bling."

Each of the magic eight have similar pendants. "What... What _are_ these?" Applejack says.

"I'm not sure," Sunset says, "but clearly, we have some kind of connection to them."

"I almost don't _care_ what they are," Rarity says. "They are gorgeous!" She gasps. "And will _totally_ go with the other collection I was working on for the camp fashion show!"

I glance at each one. Rarity's is purple with a diamond shape engraved on it, Fluttershy's is light pink with a butterfly, Rainbow's is light blue with a lightning bolt, Applejack's is orange with 3 apples, Twilight's is purple with a star, Pinkie's is pink with a balloon, Sunset's is orange with a sun, and Cloudflare's is blue-green with a fire shape.

"...which is probably canceled," Rarity continues, "isn't it...?"

I look at the dock. It's been destroyed... _again_...

"Well, we rebuilt it once," I say. "I think we can do it again."

* * *

After helping Trixie move one of the broken boards to the side, I spot Cloudflare standing by the right side of the shoreline.

"I'll be back in a minute," I tell Trixie. I walk over to him. "How come you're standing over here?" I ask.

"I'm just taking it all in," he says. "A lot happened today."

"Still annoyed at having camp ruined by magic?"

"Not anymore. I'm actually starting to get used to it. The thrill of being part of the battle instead of just standing on the sidelines probably helped, even though my siren powers didn't do crap against Gloriosa."

"What about the suit? Think you can get used to those?"

He sighs. "I mean, it _looks_ nice. It just feels... It feels really strange."

"You _do_ look handsome in it, even _with_ the wings and ears."

"Thanks." He looks at his outfit. "I guess there's no harm in wearing one of these for special occasions. I just don't get why this one's so... well... boring."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the others. Their outfits are sparkly, vibrant, and have a lot of different colors. Mine is... well... blue. Just blue, with a white undershirt and black shoes."

"Rarity told me you can't do much to men's suits. It doesn't take a lot to make one look garish. Even your magic pendant thingy is pushing it."

"Well... Yeah, I guess I _would_ look ridiculous."

"Now, come on. We could use a little more help cleaning up the dock debris."

We walk over to the dock.

"Why do you think we wanted our students to come here?" Vice Principal Luna says. We stop and look at her. She and her sister are talking to Gloriosa.

"We can't let Filthy Rich take this place away," Twilight says. "If camp meant so much to you two, maybe it meant as much to the other campers who came here in years past."

"And _maybe_ ," Sunset says, "we can get them to help save it!"

"Oh!" Applejack sets down the log she was carrying. "Like a fundraiser?"

"Or a _ball?!_ " Rarity excitedly says.

"Our band could play!" Rainbow says.

"I could help write a new song just for the occasion," Fluttershy says.

Everyone agrees with the idea. I'm on-board with it, but why are we doing _another_ fundraiser?

"Those are all good ideas," Gloriosa says, "but where would we hold it?"

"We could hold it in the crystal cave!" Sunset says.

Rarity gasps. "A crystal ball?!" In a high-pitched voice, she says, "I love it!"

"I admire everyone's enthusiasm," Gloriosa says. "Really, I do. But I don't know how we're going to plan a ball by tomorrow and invite everyone."

"We got this!" the ponied-up girls say.

"First time I've heard that this week and _not_ gotten annoyed," Cloudflare says.

* * *

 **A/N: For those who have read the first story I wrote, you might be wondering about the siren-up. Check the deleted scenes chapter for an explanation.**


	8. Epilogue, Crystal ball & 3rd dock repair

*****Cloudflare's POV*****

Even though I was right about Gloriosa being up to something, using magic to 'protect' the camp was the last thing I would've suspected. The siren-up was also unexpected. I didn't think I had enough siren magic to actually get the wings and ears. I kinda like the wings, but the ears are a little much. Sunset likes them, though.

Twilight being afraid of Midnight taking over wasn't very surprising. I suspected her bus nightmare had something to do with that, but I never got around to asking Spike for confirmation. Now that Twilight's not terrified, I can ask her directly.

Along with most of the other students, Olivia and I helped with getting the crystal cave ready. I wonder if that place was formed naturally. The cave itself seems natural, but the geodes likely played a role in the crystals' formations.

As 'fashionable' as that blue suit was, it's too vibrant, plus it reminds me of the lawyer from that one video game. What was his name... something Wrong? Anyway, I asked Rarity to make a simpler, dark grey one. She added a red bowtie to complete the ensemble. It still feels strange to be wearing one of these, but I can deal with it for one night.

Olivia said she never thought she'd see me in a suit. Likewise, I never thought I'd see her in a dress. It's not fancy, but it's _still_ a dress. She's wearing a strapless dark red dress – modern vermilion, according to Rarity – white heels, and black stockings, which do a pretty good job of covering her prosthesis. You can't even see where it begins unless you get up-close.

I notice movement in the corner of my eye. I look in that direction. Twilight is levitating some lights above her and Timber. She grabs his hand. They look at each other and blush. She puts a hand on his chest, then they lean toward each other. When did _they_ hook up?

Gloriosa cuts in before they connect.

"She couldn't have waited a few seconds?" Olivia says. "Surely she noticed those two were falling for each other."

"You knew?" I ask.

"How could I _not?_ They were practically drooling over each other whenever they were together!"

"This was the first time I saw them together."

She looks at me in disbelief.

"Okay, I know guys are supposed to be clueless," AJ says, "but _come on..._ "

"I'm _not_ clueless! Unobservant, maybe."

Twilight turns toward us.

"Adorable!" Rarity says.

"He _does_ seem like a pretty cool guy," Sunset says.

Rainbow rushes in. "You know what _else_ is cool? Our awesome new superpowers!" She zips over to the muffin girl. "I handed out, like, 400 fliers..." She runs onto the stage. "...set up the stage..." She runs back to us. "... _and_ still had time to pick up pizza! I love my super speed!"

"About that," Sunset says. "I think the crystals are the source of the superpowers."

"You're not gonna ask us to give them up, are you?" Fluttershy asks.

"No. In fact, I think we were meant to have them all along."

"Me too," Twilight says.

"Well..." I say. "I don't think I want to keep mine."

"Why not?" Sunset asks.

"The abilities you girls have are useful, but mine isn't."

"You don't know for sure," Olivia says.

"Course I do! It didn't do anything against Gloriosa!"

"That's because she was protected by Equestrian magic," AJ says, "just like _we_ were at the Battle of the Bands."

I sigh. "Oh, right. Completely forgot about that."

"Cloudflare? Can I talk to you in private?" Olivia asks me.

" _Again?_ Why are you two so secretive?" Rainbow asks.

"It's kind of our thing," I tell her. "Until September, our entire _friendship_ was a secret."

"Well, when you're done, we'll be on the dance floor," Sunset says. "I'll save a dance for you."

"I won't be long."

We walk away from the group.

"Are you _serious_ about giving up your power?"

"Absolutely. What use could my singing _possibly_ have?"

"You never know until you try."

Until I try? "What do you mean?"

"How about this: You hold onto the pendant, and you can practice using your ability on me."

"Practice?"

"The sirens could use their singing to manipulate others, right? And you did the same to try calming Gloriosa. Why not figure out exactly what you can and can't get others to do?"

"Well... I don't know... It _would_ be nice to figure out how this stuff works, but I don't feel right using you as a lab rat."

"After what happened yesterday, I don't blame you. I'm giving you my permission, though. I... I _want_ to be your lab rat."

She... She _what?!_ "Wh... Why?!"

"I feel like your mind-control singing _can_ be useful. You just have to figure out how. The best way is to try it out on someone. Anything you can think of, I'm fine with."

Has she lost her mind for _real?!_ "But _why_ are you fine with it? You thought you were losing your mind when it happened last time!"

"Last time, I didn't know why I was acting that way. And, well... I truly believe you can find a positive way to use your power, and offering myself as a test subject is my way of showing just _how much_ I believe in my BFHS."

"'BFHS'?"

"Best Friend in High School. I'd call you my BFF, but BFFs rarely stay best friends _forever_."

"I take it you know from experience."

I close my eyes. I wouldn't mind figuring out these powers, but I don't like the idea of using Olivia. I feel bad enough that I got her worked up by accident, but doing it on purpose?! Then again, she _did_ offer herself to me. The only other thing I can think to do is ask the sirens how this works, but I doubt they'd be willing to divulge their secrets. Well, maybe Sonata would, but the only time I've seen her since the Battle was a few days ago while I was on the bus to here.

I open them and sigh. "I don't know..."

"Tell you what. Think it over for the rest of the week, and let me know by the end of camp."

This girl... "You're _really_ persistent sometimes... Fine, I'll give it some thought."

"Awesome! Now, let's go. You don't want to keep Sunset waiting."

"Okay, then. Oh, also, can you try not to throw something at her this time?"

"Gonna try kissing her again? Don't worry. I'm pretty sure I'm not under your spell anymore." She gasps. "Hey! Maybe that can be your first test! Use your singing to make sure I don't try anything."

That's actually not a bad idea. "That, I'm okay with." Okay, let's see... The sirens convinced the principals to move the Rainbooms into the final round by vocalizing. Maybe they were thinking about what they wanted those two to do.

Worth a shot. I clear my throat.

 _Ahhhhhh, Oh ahhhhh, Ahhhhhh ahhhhhh ahhhhhh..._

Her expression changes to a blank stare.

Do not get jealous. Do not interrupt Sunset Shimmer and I for any reason.

I wait a few seconds after I'm done to speak. "Did it work?"

She quickly blinks a few times. "I think so. The main thing on my mind right now is to leave the two of you alone no matter what happens."

"Perfect! That's exactly what I wanted."

We walk toward the dance floor. "So how _did_ you get your power to work like that?"

"When I'm singing, I have to think about what I want the other person to do. If I don't, they just get agitated."

We arrive at the dance floor. Sunset is standing in the middle, and a slow song is playing over the speaker system.

"Good luck," Olivia says.

"Thanks." I take a deep breath, then walk over to Sunset. Under the dance floor's lighting, she looks even _more_ breathtaking.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," I say.

"That's okay. It was worth the wait. Now, how about that dance?"

"I'd be honored."

I put my hands on her waist and she rests her hands on my shoulders. As we begin our 'slowly move side-to-side' dance, I decide now is the right moment.

"So... I talked it over with Olivia, and I've decided I'm gonna keep my power."

"You are?"

"Yeah. It could come in handy one day. Heck, I already found a use for it."

"Oh?"

"I used it on Olivia to make sure she wouldn't interrupt us."

"Don't want her interrupting our dance?"

"Well... yes, that. But also, this..." I slowly lean forward. She starts to do the same, and I close my eyes.

Suddenly, loud feedback blares over the PA system. I have to let go of Sunset and cover my ears. _Why?!_

I angrily sigh, then storm off. "No, that's fine! I didn't want to kiss her anyway!"

"Wait!"

* * *

I'm standing at the entrance to the cave.

Why is the universe trying to sabotage my efforts? All I want to do is kiss my girlfriend at the right time! Is that too much to ask?!

"Hey." Sunset joins me.

"Hey..."

Neither of us say anything else for several seconds.

I sigh. "Look, I – Mmm?!" I'm cut of by Sunset... kissing me?

She places her hands on my shoulders. After a couple seconds, I return the kiss and put my hands on her waist.

We separate after a few seconds.

"Was _that_ the right moment?"

I smile. "I think it was." That was definitely worth the wait.

Twilight walks over to us, blushing. Sunset gives her an expression that says, 'You two hit it off?' Twilight blushes harder, then playfully elbows Sunset. I gotta admit, _that_ was adorable.

"There _is_ one thing I'm still wondering about," Sunset says.

"What's that?" Twilight asks.

"Where did the magic that hid this cave come from?"

Good question. Also, why here? Every magic disturbance has been isolated to CHS except this one.

* * *

 *****A day or two later*****

The girls and I put the finishing touches on the dock.

"Third time's the charm," Rainbow says. "Or is it fifth? I've lost track."

"All that matters is the runway is finished," Rarity says.

I sigh. She's _still_ calling it a runway...

"I think you mean the dock?" AJ says.

"Oh, to-MAY-to, to-MAH-to."

At least there's nothing that can destroy it this time. It feels like all we've done since coming here have been saving the camp and replacing this damn dock.

"Let's celebrate!" Pinkie throws confetti and marshmallows into the air.

Wait! Has she forgotten –

They land on the dock and explode, destroying the entire thing yet again.

"Pinkie Pie, you are _so lucky_ you're immune to my singing..." At this point, we might as well give up on the whole thing.

"That's it!" Olivia says. "I'm done with this ****! If you need me, I'll be fishing in the river. _Don't_ need me." She walks away.

So much for cutting back on swearing...


	9. Deleted scenes

**A/N: As with the previous story, there are some scenes I wrote ahead of time, but didn't use. These are a few of them.**

 **I wanted to make this its own chapter, but decided it would be better suited here. This is Twilight's nightmare from the beginning of the movie. It was originally going to end once he "disappeared", but I wanted to come up with something to make that seem less dark.**

* * *

Rainbow knocks on the door to Twilight's room. "Twilight! The bus to Camp Everfree leaves in ten minutes!"

For somebody as organized as she is, it's not like her to oversleep.

"I can't believe I overslept!" she says.

The door opens and we walk in. "I know," I say. "That's not like you at all."

"Don't you have a super annoying alarm clock that goes..." Pinkie makes the buzzer noise from an alarm clock, then lifts Twilight's pillow off her bed. There's an alarm clock under it, buzzing.

"Why is it under your pillow?" Olivia says. "I've heard of being on-time, but not literally sleeping on your clock."

I've heard of being on-time, but this is ridiculous!

"It's so I can hear the alarm more easily," Twilight says.

Okay, what? "That doesn't make sense," I say. "Sound travels faster through air than it does any solid object, even if your ear is against the pillow. You should know this!"

"No it doesn't! Sound travels _further_ , not _faster!_ "

"Whatever. The point is, it'd be easiest to hear if you put it next to your lamp!"

Sunset shuts off the alarm. "Don't worry about that," she says to me. She picks up Twilight's suitcase. "It's gonna be fine," she says to Twilight. "We'll help you pack." They throw a few things into the suitcase, including a flashlight, a cupcake, and a... photo of Rainbow. Gee, I wonder who put _that_ in.

I just realized this is the first time I've been in her room. I look around. Two computer monitors in the corner, a model of the Solar System hanging from the ceiling, a bunch of books, all sorts of awards from Crystal Prep... and an aquarium? I didn't know she had pet fish.

"Let me just get changed."

With that, tour's over. "I'll wait outside." I leave the room, closing the door behind me.

For somebody who doesn't have a whole lot of stuff, her room's pretty big.

"Midnight Sparkle?!" That came from her room. Surely they don't mean _that_ Midnight.

I open the door. Standing... or rather, floating in the middle of the room, is the form Twilight took when she released the magic her necklace container stole back at the Friendship Games.

"How is this possible?! Sunset helped me defeat you at the Friendship Games!" Wait, Twilight's still here? Aren't those two one in the same?

"You and your friends can _never_ truly defeat me!" Midnight says. Does this mean Sunset's demon form is still out there somewhere? And the Dazzlings' true forms?

She laughs evilly, and then the area around her starts disappearing, square... by square... Rarity, AJ, and Rainbow start flickering, then dissolve away. What the hell?!

The same happens to Pinkie and Fluttershy. This is _not_ what I signed up for!

Olivia clings to me in fear as Spike and Sunset disappear. Why did I get involved with this magic stuff?!

Olivia grabs my face and kisses me. Really?! Right _now?!_

...

Um... Am I dead yet?

Olivia's still kissing me. I open my eyes. It looks like we're outside.

"Mmm!" I push her off. "What was _that_ for?"

"Sorry. I didn't know what was gonna happen, and in case that killed us, I wanted to get all I could out of my last couple seconds. I figured our lips connecting was a better way to go than cowering in fear."

"Well..." I clear my throat. "At least it _didn't_ kill us."

"Yeah..."

Awkward silence. Never thought I'd experience this with Olivia.

"So where are we?" I ask.

We look around. We're standing in front of a house. "Back at my house," she says.

"I guess Midnight teleported us."

"We should get back to Twilight. Make sure she's okay."

We _should_ , but... "No."

"'No'?"

"I was okay with all this magic stuff, but not after what just happened. If Midnight can teleport people in such a terrifying way, who knows what _other_ evil entities could do. Maybe one of them actually _can_ disintegrate us. Let the girls with magic deal with that. I'd rather _not_ put my life in jeopardy without a way to defend myself. The easiest way to avoid that is to stop associating myself with them."

"So... you're not friends with them anymore?"

"Right. You can stay with them if you want, but I'm done with them."

"And your relationship with Sunset... Is that over, too?" I think I saw her smile a bit.

I sigh. "Unfortunately, yes it is." I remove the friendship ring and drop it.

She pulls me into a hug. "Oh, I'm _so_ glad to hear that!"

Uh... "Wh-What?"

"I know I said I didn't have any feelings for you, and when we reconnected, I didn't. But after you hooked up with Sunset, I realized I still kinda like you."

"Really?"

She looks at me. "What do ya say, Flare? Wanna go back to the way things used to be? No magic, no drama. Just you and me."

Well... Since I'm back to having no other friends, and since I... actually _do_ still like her, now that I think of it...

I smile, then return the embrace. "That sounds like a great idea, Liv." I press my lips against hers.

This is how it should've been all along.

* * *

 **A/N: This is an alternate recap I came up with. Instead of Cloudflare explaining everything to Olivia, he talks directly to the reader.**

* * *

Pinkie, are you sure this is gonna work?

"Of course it will. I do it all the time. Well, not _all_ the time. Just when the writers want me to."

So how exactly do I do it? Just start talking?

"Mm-hmm!"

*sigh* Okay, here I go... Ahem...

Hey, everyone. My name's Cloudflare, though you probably know that already. I'm 17 years old, turning 18 this summer, and I attend Canterlot High School. I have light orange skin – a shade or two lighter than Applejack's – and short blue-green hair. I've always thought that was an odd combination. Maybe I should dye it brown. Anyway, I wear a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans, except during the summer when they're shorts. I like playing video games, drumming, and hanging out with my friends. I'm the backup drummer for the Rainbooms, and Sunset Shimmer is my girlfriend. My relationship with her this past school year has been... a little complicated.

I'll start from the beginning. During my freshman year, I met Thunderlane, Blossomforth, Flitter, and Cloudchaser. We weren't close friends, but we sat together at lunch and occasionally would hang out after school. Last February, I saw a girl sitting by herself at a nearby lunch table. They told me she was missing part of her leg, and everybody either teased her or avoided her. Sunset essentially ruled the school at the time, and although Blossomforth said she would have no problem ruining the reputation of anyone who was seen with the girl, I didn't think she'd be _that_ cruel. The next day, I saw the girl at her locker. I wrote a note, then slipped it in her locker when nobody was around. After school, we met up, talked a bit, and decided to hang out. Her name's Olivia, and she wears a prosthetic right leg. Her entire leg's not missing – just the area from slightly below the knee on down. Her skin is light grey and she has brown hair. She's really nice, although she used foul language a lot. I think she got all of it out of her system when she blew up at Cinch, because she's cut back on it since then. I'll get to that later.

Because of her rep, we could only go to her house or mine, which I was okay with. Sometime over the summer, I started to fall for her, and we became an item 2 weeks before the school year began. We couldn't have any proper dates, even in the city. I saw some CHS students in the city restaurants every time I walked by them. Eventually, we started going to a place at the same time, but we sat on opposite ends of the building. One day, we held hands as we left Sugarcube Corner – actually called the Sweet Shoppe, but somehow it got that nickname – a move that was really stupid in hindsight. I'm not even sure why we did that. Sure enough, somebody saw us: Sunset Shimmer. She uploaded a video showing the two of us, and then I became a target. I got teased for dating a crippled girl, and she got teased even worse. I could've blocked it out if only a few students did it, but it felt like the entire school took shots at me. I told Principal Celestia, but she kept saying she'd look into it. Nothing was ever done. We decided to break up and hope that would quiet them down. It didn't. It got so bad for her, she transferred to another school. With my friends now wanting nothing to do with me for the same reason they avoided Olivia, I was forced to deal with the torment alone. I spent most of my after-school time and weekends in my house.

A few months later, the school was hosting a musical showcase. The day before the event, a trio of girls known as The Dazzlings showed up in the cafeteria. They sang a song about changing the showcase into a Battle of the Bands, which got everyone arguing with each other except me. They noticed this, and they wrote a note telling me to meet with them. When I did, I told them why I wasn't arguing as well. Then they said they could help get back at the school for the months of torment. When they mentioned Sunset, that's all I needed to join them.

They told me they're called "sirens", and are from Equestria. They're similar, but not quite the same as the sirens from mythology.

"You don't have to explain that."

But what if somebody doesn't know what I'm talking about?

"Then they should stop reading, watch all of the movies, then come back."

Okay, so what else should I gloss over?

"*whisper whisper whisper*"

That's... quite a lot. I might as well just say the sirens were defeated, I became friends with you girls, Olivia returned at the Friendship Games, Sci-Twi stole magic, Sunset stopped her, and I asked Sunset out that night. On second thought, who am I even doing this for? I feel like I'm talking to myself.

"But you're not. Trust me."

I gotta go, anyway. Sunset wants my opinion on a new song she's writing.

"Wait!"

...

"He's not gonna use this, is he...?"

* * *

 **A/N: I used it here. Does that count?**

 **I'm very disappointed I had to cut this one. It was written shortly after watching the FiM episode "28 Pranks Later". Seeing Rainbow so willing to prank anypony, especially Fluttershy, gave me the idea to have human Rainbow pull a prank on Olivia. I wanted this to happen at the beginning of the day Gloriosa goes mad with power. Unfortunately, once I got to that part of the movie, I had other plans for Olivia, so I couldn't use any of it.**

* * *

"You are _so_ dead!"

I look at the path to the girls' tents. Rainbow is running from something. "Sheesh, calm down! It was just a prank!"

Olivia is hopping after her. She's not wearing her prosthesis. "You wanna see a prank?! Get your ass over here!"

I sigh. Really? I walk over to them. "What's with the yelling?"

"It's Dash's idea of a prank!"

"Come on!" Rainbow says. "It was pretty funny!"

"No it wasn't! You're no better than the other students!"

"Calm down," I say. "What did she do?"

"She snuck into my tent while I was sleeping, took my prosthetic leg, and put it on the roof of the cabin!"

...

"Go back to the cabin and tell Gloriosa, but don't mention Rainbow. I'll talk with her."

She angrily sighs, then hops back to the tents. I turn around and walk up to Rainbow. "Are you proud of yourself?"

"What? Don't tell me _you're_ upset about it, too!"

"You went too far. She told me the day we got here she was worried about one of the girls sneaking into her tent while she slept. I said our friends wouldn't let that happen. I didn't think one of those girls would be a friend."

"It was _just_ a prank, dude. She's overreacting!"

Overreacting? Seriously? "No, if she was overreacting, you'd be in the infirmary right now."

She chuckles. "You think _she_ could beat _me_ up?"

She doesn't get it. "Why am I even wasting my time?" I walk back to my tent.

I sit on my bed. I know Rainbow can get a little out-of-hand with her pranks, but I didn't think she'd stoop _that_ low. I should make sure Olivia's okay. I get out my phone and call her.

"Hello, Cloudflare." Rarity answers Olivia's phone.

"Rarity? Uh... How is she?"

"She's really upset."

I can hear her sobbing in the background.

"Why would Rainbow think pulling that type of prank on Olivia is a good idea?"

Rarity sighs. "She only thinks about the prank itself and doesn't take into consideration how the person being pranked might react."

"She might've just lost a friend because of it. Even if she apologizes, I can't see Olivia wanting anything to do with her anymore."

"Okay, campers!" Timber announces. "Time to head to the courtyard!"

"I gotta go," I tell Rarity. "Try to keep Rainbow and Olivia separated."

"That shouldn't be too hard," she says. "I already told Rainbow to stay away from our tent."

"Thanks. I wish I could be there for Olivia."

* * *

 **A/N: Up until I started on the epilogue, I had planned for Cloudflare to take part in Trixie's magic show. I tried to think of something spectacular, but also simple for a new assistant to pull off. I eventually decided on a "trick gone wrong" illusion where it would appear that he gets seriously hurt, complete with fake blood. Even with making it clear that he's in on the trick and no harm actually comes to him, I wasn't comfortable using it in a K+ story. I dropped the trick idea, as well as everything to do with him taking part. Below is the only full section I wrote.**

* * *

The four of us arrive at the docks. There are five picnic tables, two logs acting as benches, a building with two canoes on the side and two sailboats in the water next to it, and a long dock going out to the lake.

"Hey Cloudflare!" Trixie is waving to me. "Get over here!"

"Wonder what _she_ wants," Olivia says.

"Dunno," I say. "Maybe she wants to gloat about beating me at the Battle of the Bands again." She always reminds me at least once a week, and it's a bit annoying. I walk over to her. "What's up, Trix?" I sit next to her.

"First, don't call me that ever again. Second, I called you over because I wanted to ask you something. How would _you_ like to be in Trixie's magic show?"

Really? "Me? How come?"

"You expressed interest in Trixie's performance. She figures it's only fair that you play a part in it."

"What will I be doing? Get cut in half? Disappear from a giant chest? Catch a bullet with my teeth?"

"Well, definitely _not_ the last one. The show would be shut down before you even got into position and Trixie would probably get suspended."

"Good point."

"I haven't thought of your act yet. Meet me tomorrow at 4:00 PM behind Garnet tent and we'll discuss it further. Don't tell anybody about this. I don't want people thinking I'm taking auditions to be in the show."

"Alright. My lips are sealed."

"Good. Now get outta here."

I stand up, then walk back to Sunset.

"What were you two talking about?" she asks.

"She wanted to know why I was interested in her magic show." I know she'd keep it a secret, but I feel if I told her the truth, it would somehow get back to Trixie. I kinda don't want to tick her off.

* * *

 **A/N: This is an alternate version of Olivia and Cloudflare's discussion about his power. It's told from Olivia's POV, and was supposed to go after their suit discussion. After realizing it would work better at the ball, I moved it and rewrote it from Cloudflare's POV.**

* * *

"Rarity told me you can't do much to men's suits. It doesn't take a lot to make one look garish. Even your magic pendant thingy is pushing it." I notice it's missing. "Where'd it go, anyway?"

"It's in my pocket." He takes it out. "I don't know if I want to keep it. The girls' abilities are useful, but mine isn't."

"You don't know for sure."

"Course I do! It didn't do anything against Gloriosa!"

"That's because she was protected by Equestrian magic, just like the girls were at the Battle of the Bands."

He sighs again.

He probably won't like this idea, but... "How about this: You hold onto the pendant, and you can practice using your ability on me."

"Practice?"

"The sirens could use their singing to manipulate others, right? And you did the same thing to try calming Gloriosa. Why not figure out exactly what you can and can't get others to do?"

"Well..." He looks uncertain. "I don't know... It _would_ be nice to figure out how this stuff works, but I don't feel right using you as a lab rat."

As I expected. "After what happened yesterday, I don't blame you. I'm giving you my permission, though. I..." I can't believe I'm about to say this... "I _want_ to be your lab rat."

He looks at me in shock. "Wh... Why?!"

"I feel like your mind-control singing _can_ be useful. You just have to figure out how. The best way is to try it out on someone. Anything you can think of, I'm fine with."

"But _why_ are you fine with it? You thought you were losing your mind when it happened yesterday!"

"Yesterday, I didn't know why I was acting that way. And, well... I truly believe you can find a positive way to use your power, and offering myself as a test subject is my way of showing just _how much_ I believe in my BFHS."

"'BFHS'?"

"Best Friend in High School. I'd call you my BFF, but BFFs rarely stay best friends _forever_."

"I take it you know from experience." He's spot-on. Stupid Sky Writer...

He closes his eyes. I'm not sure why doing that helps people think. I guess it helps you focus on your thoughts. That, and looking up. I wonder which one is more effective...

After a moment, he opens them and sighs. "I don't know..."

"Tell you what. Think it over for the rest of the week, and let me know by the end of camp."

He shakes his head. "You're _really_ persistent sometimes... Fine, I'll give it some thought."

"Awesome! Now, come on. We could use a little more help cleaning up the dock debris."

* * *

 **A/N: When LoE was announced, some thought it could've been a summer trip instead of a school trip. I was honestly hoping it was a summer thing so I could finally continue the first story's epilogue. This is an extended and updated version of it, and it would've happened two weeks before the trip. After the first trailer, any chance of that happening was shot down. I had been thinking about retconning the epilogue for a while, and once I decided to have Cloudflare siren up during the "Gloriosa Everfree" part, I was able to go through with part of it. He still gets a drumset on his birthday, but none of them are surprised by the siren-up. Well, none of his friends.**

* * *

"Thanks again for helping me clean out the hamster habitat," Fluttershy says.

"No problem. I had a hamster as a pet, so I'm kinda used to this stuff."

"Are you sure you can't stick around?"

"I'd love to, but I have to help Pinkie make muffins for an upcoming party." I check the clock. "Actually, I need to be there pretty soon."

"I never expected somebody would be so busy on their birthday."

I walk toward the exit. "I just think of it as another normal day. Yes, I celebrate it, but I don't like making a big deal out of it."

"I see..."

As I leave the rescue center, I tell Fluttershy I'll see her later. I get on my bicycle and head for Sugarcube Corner. Well, it's actually called the Sweet Shoppe, but most of the students use that nickname. It fits with the whole Wondercolts thing.

Hang on... Pinkie wants me to help her with a party on my birthday. Is she...?

Nah. I already told her I'm not a party person. Besides, I made her Pinkie Promise she wouldn't throw one for me. She _has_ to honor that.

I arrive at the bakery and park my bike. I open the door and Mrs. Cake welcomes me.

"Hi, Mrs. Cake. I'm here to help Pinkie."

"She's upstairs. Second door on the left."

"Upstairs?" Why would she be upstairs? The kitchen's on the main floor. I walk upstairs and find the door.

Wait a second... Seriously, Pinkie? Without opening the door, I yell to the people on the other side. "Hey, Pinkie Pie! If you wanted to surprise me with a party, you should've met me in the kitchen, _then_ sent me up here!"

I open the door, and I can see everyone is disappointed. "Aw... You're no fun..." Pinkie says.

I look around. There are balloons, streamers, and a cake. I appreciate she went with my cupcake birthday cake idea, but still... "Pinkie, I told you not to throw a party for me. You even Pinkie Promised."

"Oh, _I_ didn't do this. I would _never_ break a Pinkie Promise."

"The rest of us put this together," Rainbow says. "You think you could be just a _little_ grateful?"

"Sorry, Rainbow. I told Pinkie that I don't like parties."

"Well, don't think of it as a party," Applejack says. "Think of it as spending your birthday with friends."

"I guess..." Only five of them here. "No Twilight?"

"She would've loved to come," Rarity says, "but she forgot her brother and his wife's baby shower was _today_."

"Well, family _does_ come first." Awful timing, though. "What about Sunny?"

"She's getting her present ready," Rainbow says.

"Olivia?"

"She's running a bit late," Fluttershy says. "She should be here soon."

"Now come on!" Pinkie says. "Let's get this not-party started!"

* * *

 *****Later that day*****

"Why can't you tell me what it is?"

"Because it's a surprise," Rarity says.

"Not even a hint?"

"You already ruined one surprise," Pinkie says. "You're _not_ ruining this one!" Pinkie walks behind me, and my vision is obscured by a pair of hands.

"Come on, is this necessary? I promise I won't peek."

"We don't trust you," all five say.

We continue our walk to Applejack's house... or rather, they continue walking me there. After a couple minutes, we stop, and I hear a door open.

"Okay, ready for your present? One... Two... Two and a half... And... Three!" Pinkie moves her hands and I open my eyes. I see a drumkit. It has a big orange bow on the front of the bass drum.

Oh my gosh! I... I don't know what to say... I walk up to it. The shell is red and yellow.

"So you like it?" Pinkie asks.

 _Like_ it? "I _love_ it!"

"I knew you would."

I turn around. Standing behind me is Sunny. I immediately pull her into a hug. "Thank you so much!"

We kiss. "Well, I couldn't have done it without everybody's help."

"How'd you know I wanted one?"

"I know you like playing Pinkie's spare kit, but you can't use that one forever. I couldn't afford this on my own, so I asked the others to pitch in as well."

I look at the others. "Thanks, everyone. This is definitely the best gift I've ever gotten. If I could kiss all of you, I would, but I don't think my girlfriend would be too pleased."

"How about you kiss me once for each of them?"

"That works." Sunny and I kiss seven times. "And one more for you." This one lasts a bit longer than the others.

"Alright, alright. Enough of this lovey-dovey stuff," Rainbow says.

"Aw, what's wrong, Dashie? Jealous?" Sunny teases.

"Me? Jealous? No way! This is getting too mushy for me."

"I'm with Rainbow," Pinkie says. "The story's tagged 'Romance', but don't jump into it at the start. You gotta wait until at least the midway point to keep people reading."

"Pinkie, I don't think that's what she – Wait, story? Midway point...?"

"Don't bother," Rainbow says to me. "It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie."

I really want to figure this girl out, but I'll save it for another day. Right now, I have a drumset to try out.

I wonder if they'll let me do this today. "Hey, AJ. Do you have a speaker dock?"

"Yeah, I do. Why?"

"I want to play a song. I figured since today's my birthday, you girls would finally let me play this one."

"Uh-uh, no way!" Rainbow says. "We already told you you're not playing anything from the sirens while we're here!"

"It's just this one time! Besides, what does it matter?"

"It matters because we're the Rainbooms, not the Dazzlings!"

" _I'm_ the only one that'll be playing! Also, it's partially my song! I wrote the damn drum line!"

"Um, maybe we _should_ let him," Fluttershy says. "I mean, it _is_ his birthday."

"I agree with Fluttershy," Rarity says. "I don't see the harm in it. He's not a siren." The others nod in agreement.

Rainbow sighs. "Fine..."

"Alright!" Applejack gets out a speaker dock as I look through the songs on my phone. I decide to go with "Welcome to the Show". I'm glad I transferred the original mix to my phone. I set the song to play when someone taps the screen, and I put it on the dock.

I sit down at the kit. I play a short beat to make sure it sounds good. I give a thumbs-up to show I'm ready, and Sunny starts the song.

As I'm playing, I still can't believe I have my own drumkit. As I reach the heavy part, I start really getting into it. It's been three months since I last played this song, and I'm playing with just as much intensity as I did that night.

When I finish, I notice everybody staring in surprise. "What?" I look behind me. What the...

I see a pair of bat-like wings. "Wings..." I put a hand on my back, and I can feel their bases. "Siren wings..." I move my hand to my head. "And pony ears..." I look at the others. "I'm not hallucinating, right? I actually have these?" They nod. "Well... This is gonna take some getting used to."

"Why do you have those?" Two people force their way past the Rainbooms. It's Adagio and Aria.

"Why do I have what?"

"Don't play dumb," Adagio says. "The ears and wings. You're a human, not a siren."

"And these girls are humans, not ponies. Well, most of them."

"What's your point?" Aria asks.

"Twilight's magic rubbed off on them, so I assume your magic rubbed off on me."

"Why are you even still here?" Rainbow asks them. "Didn't you get booed out of town?"

"We only got booed off-stage," Adagio says. "Besides, this is the only place in this world that we know. Why would we leave?"

"Maybe because everybody hates you?"

"They were probably laying low," I say. "It worked for me when I had to endure all that teasing."

"What Cloudfire said," Aria says.

"Cloud _flare_ ," I correct her.

"Whatever."

Adagio starts walking toward me with a grin. "How interesting..." She reaches a hand toward my shoulder, and I quickly grab her arm.

"Don't even try. These are _my_ powers now, and I'm keeping them." I stand up, let go of her arm, and walk toward the Rainbooms. "Even if I _did_ give them back, these six would defeat you again, so save yourself more humiliation."

She growls angrily, then grabs Aria's wrist. "We _will_ get our magic back." She drags her out of the garage.

I sigh. "Guess they'll never change. Kinda surprised Sonata isn't with them."

"What were the Dazzlings doing here?" Olivia walks into the garage, then notices my ears and wings. "And why are you ponied up?"

"I'm not sure. I started playing the drumset you girls got me, and then these appeared. Adagio and Aria happened to walk by as that happened." I feel my wings disappear.

"If their magic rubbed off on you," Applejack says, "why didn't you pony up 'til today?"

"Hm..." The Battle, the Friendship Games, the drumset... They have to be connected somehow.

...

Maybe... "Perhaps when the sirens were holding onto my shoulders, a small amount of their magic got transferred to me. When Twilight was absorbing AJ's magic, my hand slipped into it while trying to close the device. After that, my singing voice improved, probably because your magic mixed with theirs. Pinkie's magic most likely rubbed off on her drumset, which was enough to keep the siren magic from activating. Once I played my new drumset, there was nothing holding the siren magic back, and I ponied up with siren wings."

After a few seconds of silence, Olivia speaks up. "That's the most I've heard the word 'magic' in a single conversation."

"That's an interesting theory," Sunny says, "but was that _really_ all it took?"

"That's all it took for Spike to start talking, so why not the same for my singing?"

* * *

 **A/N: As noted before, I gambled on the movie being over the summer. In this scene, Sonata would've made a proper appearance and she & Cloudflare would have a catch-up talk. After I found out it **_**was**_ **a school trip, I had to scrap the entire meeting, reducing her appearance in the story to a brief cameo.**

* * *

Is that... "Sonata?"

The two-tone blue hair, the spiky hair band... "Cloudflare?" Yup, it is. "OMG! It feels like _ages_ since we saw each other last!"

"Says the centuries-old siren. What are you doing here?"

"I come here one weekend every summer. It's a nice place."

"What have you been up to lately?"

"Nothing much. After bending others to our will for so long, it takes a while to get used to living normal lives. Dagi and Aria got jobs at some restaurant. I tried getting a job at Taco Haven. I figured I love tacos so much, working there would be perfect."

"You didn't get it?"

"I got it, but I quit. They wouldn't let me have free tacos or even an employee discount! The nerve of them!" she says with a pout.

"Why didn't you ask them about that in your job interview?"

"They were doing it 50 years ago. I assumed they still did it today."

Good point. "Well, good luck in your job search."

"Thanks."

"Speaking of 50 years ago, have you heard this story about Gaea Everfree?"

"Yeah, Timber tells it every year."

"Is there any truth to it?"

"I don't _think_ so. We never came out this far when their great-grandparents were alive, but I haven't sensed anything out of the ordinary."

"That's a relief." Oh right, I almost forgot. "Also, I saw Adagio and Aria last week."

"Yeah, I heard Dagi grumbling about meeting you."

"Why weren't you with them?"

"I stopped hanging out with them. The only reason I stuck around after we were banished was because we were the only sirens in existence. Dagi is okay, but Aria would get on my nerves." _Aria_ got on _Sonata's_ nerves? From what I saw, it was the other way around. "We still live together, but we're not on speaking terms. So what about you? I know you have our magic."

"Yeah, but I can't do anything with it. I can sing, but I can't get people to do what I want." I scroll through the pictures on my phone.

"Couldn't you sing before?"

Where is it... "I've never been a good singer. Not as bad as you girls without magic, but not good enough to win any karaoke contests." There it is. I show her the picture of me with siren wings and pony ears.

"Hm... The wings look nice on you, but the ears..."

"I'm not a fan of them, either. My girlfriend likes them, though."

"I noticed the ring. So you and your old flame got back together?"

"Well... Not exactly. You know about the Friendship Games?"

"The competition between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep that CHS has never won?"

"Yep. Turns out when she moved away, she started attending Crystal Prep. We reunited during the Games, but we decided to stay just friends."

"Aww... But you two spent so much time together..." She sounds disappointed.

"Yes, and we also spent so much time _apart_. Besides, after the Battle, I started to fall for Sunset Shimmer, and I asked her out after the Friendship Games."

"Sunset Shimmer?" She looks confused. "Didn't she discover your past relationship, force you to break up, and make you hate the school so much, you were immune to our singing?"

I sigh. "I haven't forgotten all that."

"So why are you dating her?"

"That was the old Sunset. The new Sunset's smart, talented, pretty, and really fun to be around."

"Does your ex still have feelings for you? The two of you only broke up because you thought it'd stop the teasing, right?"

"Like I said, we spent a long time away from each other. I didn't feel that spark when we reunited, and neither did she. We agreed that it wouldn't work out, but we could stay friends."

"I see..." Sonata's being real chatty today. It's hard to believe she used to be a siren from Equestria. "Speaking of friends..." She glances down at her feet. "I've been thinking about what you said after the Battle. To be honest, those two were never really my 'friends'; more like 'acquaintances'. That's why I don't hang out with them anymore. I tried making friends with some of the students at your school, but they didn't want anything to do with a former siren. Since you're the only human we've had in our group, well... I want to take you up on that offer." She smiles and holds out her hand. "Can... Can we be friends?"

I don't know... She's not a siren anymore, but neither is Adagio. That didn't stop her from threatening to get their powers back. Making me think Sonata's changed could be part of her plan.

Then again, this is Sonata Dusk, the girl who didn't know an apple from a grape. If this _is_ part of Adagio's plan, she would've let it slip by now, at least from what Sunny told me. Besides, would Adagio _really_ trust Sonata with something like this? I know Aria wouldn't.

"Cloudflare?"

Perhaps she _has_ changed her ways. "Okay." I shake her hand. "I'll give you a chance."

Her smile grows wider. "For realzies?"

I nod. "Everybody deserves a second chance, and I _did_ mention being friends back then. Just don't try any funny business."

"Wouldn't dream of it! So what should we do first?"

"Uh..." She seems a little _too_ excited about this. "Well... I kinda need to get back to my other friends."

"Oh..." she says, disappointed.

"How about we meet up on Tuesday at Taco Haven around noon?"

She perks up. "How'd you know I always go there on Tuesdays?"

"Lucky guess?" She doesn't remember telling me tacos are her favorite food?

"Well, Tuesday's perfect! I usually eat there by myself, so it'll be nice to have someone to talk to."

"Alright. See ya then."

"Bye!"

I walk back to the others. I hope I didn't make a mistake doing that.


End file.
